NEW YORK (AP) — Transcripts of that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell won’t be released, a judge decided Monday.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written ruling that the government had suggested that the materials could be released publicly “casually or promiscuously,” which would risk “unraveling the foundations of secrecy upon which the grand jury is premised” and eroding confidence by persons called to testify before future grand juries.
“And it is no answer to argue that releasing the grand jury materials, because they are redundant of the evidence at Maxwell’s trial, would be innocuous. The same could be said for almost any grand jury testimony, by summary witnesses or others, given in support of charges that later proceeded to trial,” the judge added.
Federal prosecutors had , in an effort to calm a about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who died behind bars while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, his socialite ex-girlfriend, was later .
It’s unclear how much the transcripts would have revealed since the Justice Department has acknowledged they contained no testimony from witnesses who were not members of law enforcement.
much of what was discussed behind the grand jury’s closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell’s 2021 trial in 2021, in victims’ civil lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses. The only grand jury witnesses were law enforcement officers.
The decision about the grand jury transcripts doesn’t affect that 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 have come out if Epstein had gone to trial.
Another federal judge still is weighing whether to release the transcripts from the grand jury testimony that led to Epstein’s indictment.
A federal judge in Florida from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.
Some Epstein victims the grand jury transcripts with some redactions. Other accusers said the debate over the material was causing them anguish.
Maxwell, who’s appealing her conviction, . Her lawyers said she hasn’t seen them but believed they were full of questionable statements that her defense had no opportunity to challenge.
Maxwell recently was and was moved from a prison in Florida to . Her attorney says she testified truthfully.
The Epstein saga has again become a national flashpoint six years after authorities said the financier . The 66-year-old was facing involving dozens of teenage girls and young women, some as young as 14.
Epstein already had served jail time and registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty to Florida prostitution offenses in a that let him avoid federal charges at the time.
President Donald Trump later , and Trump allies that dark secrets were covered up to protect powerful people. Some of those allies got powerful positions in Trump’s Justice Department and on the Epstein investigation — but then announced this summer and that a long-rumored Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist.
The about-face only amplified the clamor for transparency. After trying unsuccessfully and for not moving on, the president told Attorney General Pam Bondi .
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has for files in the case. The committee also issued subpoenas to conduct sworn questioning of former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.
Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was one of Epstein’s many . So was Trump, a Republican. Both men have said they knew nothing of Epstein’s crimes until he was charged, and Epstein’s accusers have not alleged any wrongdoing by Trump or Clinton.
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