Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sexually exploiting and abusing teenage girls, asked a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday to deny the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from its investigation of the two.
“Jeffrey Epstein is dead,” her lawyers wrote. “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.”
The court filing came as two judges are considering requests by the Trump Justice Department to release the grand jury transcripts in the Epstein and Maxwell cases. The judges had set Tuesday as the deadline for victims of the scheme and Ms. Maxwell to offer their views on the proposed disclosure.
The judges set the same deadline for a representative of Mr. Epstein to provide an opinion. Mr. Epstein was found hanged in his cell in August 2019 as he was awaiting trial; his death was ruled a suicide.
In their letter, Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers argue that after Mr. Epstein’s death, federal prosecutors “pivoted and made Maxwell the face of his crimes.”
“She became the scapegoat and the only person the government could put on trial,” her lawyers, David O. Markus and Melissa Madrigal, wrote.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Maxwell Opposes Request to Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Papers appeared first on New York Times.
