New Delhi, July 24 -- A federal judge in South Florida on Wednesday (July 23) denied a request by the US Justice Department to unseal grand jury transcripts from the 2005 and 2007 federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender.

The decision represents the ongoing attempts by the Trump-era Justice Department to release sealed records tied to Epstein's sex trafficking cases.

US District Judge Robin Rosenberg ruled that the department's arguments failed to meet the stringent legal requirements to override grand jury secrecy. In her opinion, Rosenberg said that although the Justice Department claimed the public interest and lapse of time justified disclosure, those reasons do not fall within the n...