On Monday, a New York federal judge denied the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said disseminating these documents would require “special circumstances,” as doing so would strip the secrecy that is paramount to grand jury hearings. Engelmayer expressed concern that approving the government’s request would lead grand jury witnesses to lose confidence that their testimony was private, according to The New York Times.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for grooming and abusing Epstein’s underage victims, challenged the unsealing of the grand jury investigation against her. Federal officials argued that this information could provide new insight about the pair’s crimes — a claim Judge Engelmayer outright rejected.
Judge Engelmayer’s decision in New York comes weeks after a federal court in Florida determined it did not have the authority to unseal records related to the 2005 and 2007 investigations against Epstein in West Palm Beach.
Maxwell was arrested a year after Epstein and convicted in 2021. In 2019, Epstein was found hanged in his cell in New York while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. His death was ruled a suicide.
Late last month, Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security, dormitory-style facility in Texas after the Bureau of Prisons lowered her status to allow it.
Normally, such a move might occur when an inmate serving time for crimes like Maxwell’s comes closer to the end of a sentence; Maxwell has only just started hers.
Maxwell’s transfer came about a week after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reportedly questioned her about the Epstein case and her knowledge of his activities.
The questioning took place over two days, amid calls for the Trump administration to release all files related to the controversial case. However, the Justice Department stated that no further information would be released about the case.
The House Oversight Committee has issued subpoenas to a slew of officials — including current Attorney General Pam Bondi, former President Bill Clinton, and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Lawmakers are seeking the Clintons’ testimony due to their ties to Epstein and Maxwell in the early 2000s.
The committee also subpoenaed Maxwell and has already denied her request for immunity. They plan to get her deposition on August 11.
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[Feature Photo: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File]
