Judge rejects DOJ bid to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury records
A federal judge has denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury records related to ghislaine Maxwell’s prosecution. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentance for sex trafficking and was a close associate of the late Jeffrey Epstein, sought to keep the grand jury materials sealed. Judge Paul Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the records contain little beyond what is already publicly known and would not reveal notable new facts about the crimes or the investigation. Engelmayer also noted that unsealing the transcripts would not justify exposure of the government’s reasons for requesting their release. Maxwell, convicted in 2021, maintains her innocence and has challenged her prosecution, arguing it violated a prior nonprosecution agreement Epstein secured. Simultaneously occurring,efforts to unseal related grand jury files in Florida have also been rejected,and a separate New York case concerning Epstein’s 2019 charges remains under judicial consideration.
Judge rejects DOJ bid to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury records
A federal judge on Monday denied a request from the Trump administration to unseal grand jury material in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and is the longtime associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a 31-page order issued Monday morning, Judge Paul Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected the Justice Department‘s bid to release the transcripts and exhibits from the grand jury in Maxwell’s prosecution. Grand jury records are typically kept under seal, but prosecutors argued the circumstances of Maxwell’s case warranted an exception. Engelmayer dismissed that claim.
“The Government’s invocation of special circumstances, however, fails at the threshold,” Engelmayer wrote. “Its entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the Government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false.”
After reviewing the records, Engelmayer said they contained “virtually nothing … that isn’t public already” and would “not reveal new information of any consequence.” He added that anyone expecting significant revelations “would come away feeling disappointed and misled,” concluding there was “no ‘there’ there.”
In a particularly sharp rebuke, Engelmayer said “the one colorable argument” for unsealing the transcripts would be to “expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations” for requesting their release.
Maxwell, who has maintained her innocence, was convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking and related charges for helping Epstein recruit and abuse underage girls. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Authorities ruled it was suicide, which has since fueled years of speculation, conspiracy theories, and renewed demands for transparency.
Maxwell was recently transferred to a minimum-security prison in Texas following an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a move that has drawn scrutiny amid her cooperation with the DOJ. Efforts to secure her testimony before the House Oversight Committee have since been postponed while the Supreme Court weighs whether to hear her appeal at its Sept. 29 long conference.
Maxwell’s petition argues that her prosecution violated a nonprosecution agreement Epstein obtained from federal prosecutors in Florida in the 2000s, which she said should have shielded her from charges. The DOJ has urged the justices to reject her case.
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In July, a judge in Florida declined to unseal transcripts related to a criminal case brought against Epstein for sex charges in the early 2000s.
A separate judge in New York is still weighing whether to release grand jury files from his 2019 sex trafficking charges, which never went to trial before authorities found Epstein dead in his cell on Aug. 10.
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