Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - A federal judge has denied the US Justice Department’s request to release grand jury transcripts from Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case, ruling that the materials would reveal “next to nothing new” about her crimes with Jeffrey Epstein.
In a 31-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer
said the grand jury evidence contained no new allegations beyond what was
presented at Maxwell’s public trial, and did not name anyone other than Epstein
or Maxwell as having sexual contact with minors.
The DOJ had argued that unsealing was warranted due to
“abundant public interest,” a push amplified by President Donald Trump and his
supporters, who have called for broader disclosures in the Epstein-Maxwell
saga. Last month, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “any and
all pertinent Grand Jury testimony” from the Epstein case.
Engelmayer described the grand jury presentation as limited:
a single day of testimony from one law enforcement agent summarizing the
investigation under tightly scripted questioning by prosecutors.
“Its entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials
would bring to light meaningful new information… is demonstrably false,” the
judge wrote. “A member of the public… would thus learn next to nothing new.
There is no ‘there’ there.”
The judge stressed that most of the relevant evidence —
including victim testimony, photos, flight logs, and items seized from
Epstein’s homes — was already made public during Maxwell’s trial or reported by
the media.
He also rejected claims that the transcripts held significant
historical value, calling them “garden-variety summary testimony” by two
agents, with no revelations about Epstein’s clients, new crime locations,
methods, sources of wealth, or the circumstances of his 2019 jailhouse death.
Citing the “rule of secrecy” governing grand jury
proceedings, Engelmayer said one of the few valid reasons to unseal would be to
expose disingenuous government conduct. He hinted that the DOJ’s motion could
be seen as political theater:
“A member of the public… 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.”
Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus opposed the release,
warning it could affect her appeal. The DOJ did not immediately comment.
The ruling comes amid broader legal fights over secrecy in
the Epstein cases: A similar DOJ bid to unseal records in Epstein’s federal
case is pending before another judge. A separate request to unseal grand jury
documents from Epstein’s 2005 Florida case was denied last month.
Epstein, a financier with political connections to both Trump
and former President Bill Clinton, died by suicide in jail in 2019 while
awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death — and the scope of his
network — remain the subject of conspiracy theories, some promoted by Trump and
his allies during the presidential campaign.
The latest push to unseal Maxwell’s grand jury testimony
followed a leaked DOJ–FBI memo stating that no new defendants would be charged
in connection with Epstein and Maxwell’s trafficking operation, and that no
further evidence would be released.
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