A federal judge on Monday denied the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from its investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sexually exploiting and abusing teenage girls.
The ruling comes as President Trump tries to subdue criticism and conspiracy theories from his supporters about Mr. Epstein and his circle by pushing for the transcripts’ disclosure.
Unsealing the transcripts would mean the court was applying a “special circumstances” exception to the secrecy of grand juries, wrote the judge supervising Ms. Maxwell’s case, Paul A. Engelmayer.
Permitting such an exception “casually or promiscuously” would erode confidence in people called to testify before future grand juries, Judge Engelmayer wrote.
“This factor weighs heavily against unsealing,” the judge wrote in his order on Monday.
Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers had resisted the government’s request, writing that while Mr. Epstein is dead, “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.”
Ms. Maxwell’s lawyer argued that she had been made into a scapegoat by federal prosecutors who could prosecute her only after Mr. Epstein’s death.
Mr. Epstein, a financier who moved in some of America’s most exclusive circles, was found dead in his cell in August 2019 as he was awaiting trial; his death was ruled a suicide.
Ms. Maxwell was arrested a year later and in December 2021 was found guilty of sex trafficking and other charges. Her conviction was affirmed on appeal. She has asked the Supreme Court to review her case.
Monday’s order came weeks after a federal judge in Florida denied a request by the government to release grand jury transcripts from an investigation into Mr. Epstein.
In the push to unseal the transcripts in both New York and Florida, government officials argued that there was significant public interest in the case. The Justice Department said the release of the materials would bolster the government’s claims that it had left no stone unturned.
The government argued that the release would be warranted because attention to the cases had “recently intensified” after the Justice Department’s announced last month it had concluded its review of the investigation.
For months, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, had promised the release of documents that could show damaging details. But the Justice Department said in early July that it had closed the case, without divulging groundbreaking information.
The move prompted instant backlash particularly from conservative news media and Mr. Trump’s supporters. Another release of documents related to the Epstein case by Ms. Bondi in February had also fallen flat, when the roughly 200 pages contained little new information.
Benjamin Weiser contributed reporting.
Hurubie Meko is a Times reporter covering criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state courts.
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