Judge orders Epstein files unsealed, blasts DOJ for misleading victims

Attorney Bradley Edwards speaks at a press conference alongside alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein at the U.S. Capitol announcing the Epstein Files Transparency Act. (Symbolic image) (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images) Getty Images

A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of grand jury documents from Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking case, sharply criticizing the Justice Department for misleading victims and the public. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer approved the release on Tuesday, following President Donald Trump's signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act last month, which mandates the public release of all Epstein-related materials by December 19.

The records could be made public within 10 days. The Justice Department plans to release 18 categories of investigative materials, including search warrants, financial records, survivor interview notes, and electronic device data from Maxwell's case and earlier Epstein investigations in Florida.

Judge Blasts DOJ Treatment of Victims

Engelmayer issued a scathing assessment of the Justice Department's handling of the case. He stated that victims' concerns about privacy and lack of notification «regrettably have a basis in fact.»

The judge wrote that «DOJ, although paying lip service to Maxwell's and Epstein's victims, has not treated them with the solicitude they deserve.» He added: «The motion itself misled victims — and the public at large — in holding out the Maxwell grand jury materials as essential to the goal of 'transparency to the American public,' when in fact the grand jury materials would not add to public knowledge.»

Victims had written to the court expressing «widely expressed distress at the lack of notice given to them by DOJ … and alarm that the grand jury records DOJ would release, if authorized to do so, would invade their privacy,» according to Engelmayer's order.

Maxwell's Cooperation and Prison Move

Maxwell did not oppose the unsealing but warned it could jeopardize her attempt to secure a new trial. The Supreme Court denied her appeal in October.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell over two days at a Florida courthouse close to the maximum security prison where she was held. During the interview, Maxwell said she «absolutely never» saw Trump behave inappropriately, calling his election an «extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now» and stating she «liked him.»

Following her cooperation with prosecutors, Maxwell was relocated from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum security prison camp in Texas over the summer. She is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in December 2021 of recruiting and grooming young women and girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein from 1994 to 2004, some as young as 14 years old.

Broader Transparency Push

The unsealing marks the second instance of a judge allowing public disclosure of previously secret Epstein court records. Last week, District Judge Rodney Smith in Florida ordered the release of grand jury materials from an abandoned 2005-2007 Epstein investigation.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed by Trump last month, requires the Justice Department to provide all Epstein-related records to the public in a searchable format by December 19. This follows years of secrecy, with three judges having previously refused the Justice Department's requests to unseal grand jury transcripts.

Attorneys for Epstein victim Annie Farmer wrote last week that any denial of unsealing motions «may be used by others as a pretext or excuse for continuing to withhold crucial information concerning Epstein's crimes.» They added: «Epstein's victims have been denied justice for far too long by multiple government administrations of both parties.»

Background on the Cases

Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and died a month later in a New York prison, with his death ruled a suicide. Maxwell was indicted in 2020 and convicted after a monthlong trial in Manhattan federal court in 2021.

The Justice Department had determined in July that «no further disclosure» in the Epstein case «would be appropriate or warranted.» However, the department's position shifted following the passage of the transparency legislation.

Tens of thousands of pages of related records have already been released through various legal proceedings. Another federal judge in New York is currently reviewing a separate request to unseal grand jury documents pertaining to Epstein's 2019 case.

The government is consulting with survivors and their lawyers, planning to redact records to protect identities and prevent the dissemination of sexualized images.

Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).