A federal judge has rejected the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury materials from the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case.
The Justice Department has sought to release grand jury testimony and exhibits from cases involving Jeffrey Epstein in New York.
Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a scathing opinion, saying unsealing the materials in Maxwell’s case is not a matter of historical or public interest and calling the premise of the DOJ’s argument false.
“The Court therefore denies the Government’s motion to unseal at the threshold. Contrary to the Government’s depiction, the Maxwell grand jury testimony is not a matter of significant historical or public interest. Far from it,” 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,” Engelmayer said.
The judge also pointed to the fact that much of the grand jury material that the DOJ is seeking has already been public and was presented during Maxwell’s trial in 2021.
“It consists of garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents. And the information it contains is already almost entirely a matter of longstanding public record, principally as a result of live testimony by percipient witnesses at the 2021 Maxwell trial,” Engelmayer wrote.
Engelmayer went into great detail in his ruling about the evidence that was introduced during Maxwell’s trial, making a point that the government was not familiar with it.
“It established that Maxwell had been instrumental in an approximately decade-long scheme with Epstein to entice, groom, transport, and traffic numerous young women and underage girls to engage in sexual activity with Epstein,” Engelmayer wrote.
The judge continued to pay particular attention to the government’s lack of familiarity with the Maxwell trial record, “because a number of details that it identified as non-public in fact had been testified to during the trial.”
“A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not
contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion – aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.”
Engelmayer wrote in his ruling that any person looking to review the grand jury materials the government has requested to learn new information regarding Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes, “would come away feeling disappointed and misled.”
Several victims, who remained anonymous, submitted letters to the court on their opinion as to whether grand jury materials should be unsealed. Many victims were not opposed to the release of grand jury materials, but they said there would need to be heavy redactions to protect their identities. Some victims cited the “political warfare” that they were being used for and the lack of respect the administration had shown towards victims.
Engelmayer highlighted that the only reason victims were not more opposed to the unsealing of grand jury transcripts was that they had been misled that the materials would reveal new information.
“The victims’ interest in reviewing the grand jury materials appears to be premised on the understandable but mistaken belief that these materials would reveal new information,” Engelmayer said.
On Friday, the Justice Department had asked both the judges overseeing its requests in Maxwell and Epstein’s cases to refrain from ruling on sealing grand jury materials until August 14. DOJ explained to the court that it notified victims in the case to the extent their names appeared in transcripts and exhibits and wanted time for the victims to receive the notice.
The release of grand jury transcripts in Maxwell and Epstein’s cases has been the subject of ongoing battle between the Justice Department and the courts. The government asked the court to unseal grand jury materials on July 18 after mounting pressure from Trump’s political base, Democrats and the public for the administration to release the Epstein files.
CNN previously reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi notified Trump in May that his name appeared several times in the Epstein files.
Judge Richard Berman, who is overseeing the request for grand jury transcripts and exhibits in Epstein’s case, has not ruled on the motion yet.
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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