The woman seeking to unseal search warrants used at the homes of former IU professor XiaoFeng Wang cited the Jeffrey Epstein case as evidence in her favor.
In a letter to a federal court last week in Indianapolis, Riana Pfefferkorn wrote that the federal government's effort to unseal grand jury materials in the Epstein case reinforces her argument in Wang's case.
"The filing in the Epstein matter shows that the Government supports the unsealing of sealed court records, including grand jury materials, with appropriate redactions in matters of significant public interest," wrote Pfefferkorn, a Stanford University legal scholar.
A Florida judge on Wednesday denied the federal government's request, although the Justice Department is still seeking release of grand jury transcripts related to Epstein in New York.
Epstein was convicted of sex offenses and hanged himself in jail in what was ruled a suicide.
IU fired Wang, a renowned cybersecurity expert and Chinese immigrant, on the same day in March that federal law enforcement searched his homes in Bloomington and Carmel.
Four days earlier, IU fired Wang's wife, Nianli Ma, a university library analyst.
Wang has not been charged with any crime. IU has not explained why he was fired.
Pfefferkorn made her motion to unseal the warrants in April.
The government argued that it would violate secrecy if the case is presented to a grand jury.