An Obama-appointed Manhattan federal judge denied the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts in the case against Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, saying that move “would not reveal new information of any consequence.”
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled on Monday that the Trump administration did not make a compelling case to reveal grand jury testimony, which is kept secret to protect privacy, the New York Post reported. In his decision, Engelmayer blasted the Justice Department’s argument for seeking to unseal the transcripts.
“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,” the judge wrote, according to CNBC.
“The Court’s review confirmed that unsealing the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence,” Engelmayer added.
The ruling is yet another setback for the DOJ in its effort to give the public more information about the Epstein case after backlash to the department’s conclusion that there was no evidence that Epstein kept a client list. Last month, a federal judge in Florida denied the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the investigation into Epstein. In that decision, Judge Robin L. Rosenberg — another Obama appointee — said that “the Court’s hands are tied” as the law does not allow her to unseal the grand jury testimony.
Judge Engelmayer added in his decision that the Maxwell grand jury transcripts “do not contribute anything to public knowledge.”
“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,” Engelmayer wrote. “Contrary to the Government’s depiction, the Maxwell grand jury testimony is not a matter of significant historical or public interest. Far from it. It consists of garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents.”
Maxwell, who recently agreed to sit down with the Justice Department and answer questions related to Epstein for two straight days, has been pushing for a pardon from President Donald Trump, as she also appeals her case to the Supreme Court. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in the Epstein scheme to sexually abuse and exploit minor girls. She is currently serving out a 20-year sentence and was moved to a lower-security prison shortly after her meeting with Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Last week, Maxwell’s attorneys came out in opposition to releasing the grand jury transcripts, saying, “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not. Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain.”
Another DOJ request to unseal grand jury testimony related to Epstein’s indictment in Manhattan is still sitting before another federal judge.
