Florida-based US District Judge Robin Rosenberg, an Obama appointee, said the DOJ failed to justify unsealing the records related to grand juries in West Palm Beach in 2005-2007.
Judge Rosenberg also denied a request to transfer the matter to the Southern District of New York.
The Justice Department has separately asked New York-based Judge Paul Engelmayer, also an Obama appointee, to unseal grand jury records related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking cases.