Judge orders grand jury evidence, transcripts released in Maxwell case
by Lisa Hornung · UPIDec. 9 (UPI) -- A federal judge in New York on Tuesday granted a Justice Department request to release the grand jury files from the indictment hearing of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus had argued against releasing the grand jury evidence. In a filing, Markus wrote that Maxwell "does not take a position" on the Justice Department's request to unseal the material, but said that releasing the material "would create undue prejudice" and prevent "the possibility of a fair retrial."
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer on Tuesday ordered the release of grand-jury transcripts and evidence from the case against Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for sex trafficking of minors.
He also ordered the release of evidence shared between the prosecution and defense before Maxwell's trial, but said that the Justice Department should take care not to release any identifying information on the victims. He said the Justice Department filed a motion to unseal grand jury materials in July but didn't notify the victims. He ordered that a district attorney must "personally certify" that the material is "rigorously reviewed" before its release.
The new law passed last month by Congress requires the release of the Epstein files by Dec. 19. The Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed and signed by President Donald Trump on Nov. 19.
The new law's language is "strikingly broad," Engelmayer wrote. Congress's "decision not to exclude grand jury materials despite knowledge as to their existence, while expressly excluding other categories of materials (such as classified information), indicates that the Act covers grand jury materials."
On Dec. 5, U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith of Florida ordered the release of grand-jury transcripts from the investigation against Epstein from 2005 to 2007. That investigation was abandoned.
While awaiting trial in 2019, Epstein died by suicide in jail.
Survivors of Epstein, Maxwell speak out at Capitol rally
Lisa Phillips, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, speaks out during a rally with other survivors on Capitol Hill in Washington on September 3, 2025. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI | License Photo