Judge won’t release grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein
ex-girlfriend’s Ghislaine Maxwell case
[August 12, 2025]
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Transcripts of grand jury testimony that led to sex
trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante
Ghislaine Maxwell shouldn’t be released, a judge ruled Monday in a
stinging decision suggesting the Trump administration’s real motive for
wanting them unsealed was to fool the public with an “illusion” of
transparency.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written decision that
federal law almost never allows for the release of grand jury materials
and that making the documents public casually was a bad idea.
The judge also belittled the Justice Department's argument that
releasing grand jury materials might reveal new information about
Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, calling that premise "demonstrably
false.”
The decision was a blow to President Donald Trump, who had called for
the release of transcripts as he seeks to dispel rumors and quell
criticism about his long ago involvement with Epstein, who killed
himself in jail in 2019. Trump campaigned on a promise to release files
related to Epstein, but was met with criticism — including from many of
his own supporters — when the small number of records released by his
Justice Department lacked any real bombshells.
Transcripts reveal ‘next to nothing new,’ judge says
In his ruling, Engelmayer wrote that after privately reviewing the grand
jury transcripts, anyone familiar with the evidence from Maxwell's 2021
sex trafficking trial would “learn next to nothing new” and “would come
away feeling disappointed and misled.”
“The materials do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell
as having had sexual contact with a minor. They do not discuss or
identify any client of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s. They do not reveal any
heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes,”
Engelmayer said.
He said the materials also don't reveal new locations where crimes
occurred, new sources of Maxwell and Epstein's wealth, the circumstances
of Epstein's death or the path of the government investigation.
The best argument to release the transcripts might be that “doing so
would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for
moving to unseal,” Engelmayer wrote.
“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,” he said.
Another federal judge is weighing whether to release transcripts from
the separate grand jury proceeding that led to Epstein's indictment.
Florida lawyer Brad Edwards, who has represented nearly two dozen
Epstein accusers, said he didn’t disagree with the ruling and most
wanted to protect victims. “The grand jury materials contain very little
in the way of evidentiary value anyway,” he said.
[to top of second column]
|
A board outlining the case against Ghislaine Maxwell is seen during
a news conference to announce charges against Maxwell for her
alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor
girls by Jeffrey Epstein, July 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo, File)
Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, is serving a 20-year prison
sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse several underage girls.
Her lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, declined comment. The Justice
Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Decision comes amid a renewed fervor over Epstein case
The Epstein saga has again become a national flashpoint years after
Epstein served jail time and registered as a sex offender after
pleading guilty to Florida prostitution offenses in a 2008 deal that
let him avoid federal charges then.
President Donald Trump raised questions about Epstein’s death, and
Trump allies stoked conspiracy theories that dark secrets were
covered up to protect powerful people. Some of those allies got
powerful positions in Trump’s Justice Department and promised to
pull back the curtain on the Epstein investigation — but then
announced this summer nothing more would be released and a
long-rumored Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist.
The about-face amplified the clamor for transparency. After trying
unsuccessfully to change the subject and denigrating his own
supporters for not moving on, Trump told Attorney General Pam Bondi
to ask courts to unseal the grand jury transcripts.
With pressure mounting in recent weeks, the Justice Department’s
second-in-command, Todd Blanche, recently interviewed Maxwell over
two days in an effort to show that the Trump administration was
serious about looking for any additional evidence of misconduct.
Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp
in Texas after speaking with Blanche.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice
Department for Epstein-related files and has moved to interview
former President Bill Clinton, who was among a number of luminaries
once acquainted with Epstein.
The decision about the grand jury transcripts in Maxwell's case
doesn’t affect thousands of other pages the government possesses but
has declined to release. The Justice Department has said much of the
material was court-sealed to protect victims and little of it
would've come out if Epstein had gone to trial.
A federal judge in Florida declined to release grand jury documents
from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.
Maxwell, who’s appealing her conviction, opposed unsealing the
documents.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
