US judge will not unseal grand jury papers in Epstein and Maxwell cases
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A protester calling for a release of the Epstein files holds a sign in Washington on Aug 6.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Hurubie Meko
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WASHINGTON - A US federal judge on Aug 11 denied the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime companion of Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sexually exploiting and abusing teenage girls.
Unsealing the transcripts would mean applying a “special circumstances” exception to the secrecy of grand juries, wrote the judge supervising Maxwell’s case, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer.
Permitting such an exception “casually or promiscuously” would erode confidence in people called to testify before future grand juries, Mr Engelmayer wrote.
The ruling comes as US President Donald Trump tries to subdue criticism and conspiracy theories from his supporters about Epstein and his circle by pushing for the transcripts’ disclosure.
Epstein’s death six years ago in a cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre spurred improbable theories, including that he was killed by Democrats and that he was blackmailing rich and famous people. His death was ruled a suicide.
Maxwell was arrested a year after Epstein’s death 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.
Maxwell’s lawyers have argued that she had been scapegoated by federal prosecutors who had no one else to prosecute after Epstein died. The lawyers had resisted the government’s request to release the transcripts.
“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,” they said.
The Aug 11 order came weeks after a federal judge in Florida denied a request by the US government to release grand jury transcripts from an investigation in that state into Epstein.
Protesters demanding the US government be transparent over its handling of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in Washington on Aug 6.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Government officials argued that there was significant public interest in the case.
In his order on Aug 11, Mr Engelmayer noted the public interest argument, saying he had given it “careful consideration”.
However, he wrote, because the government has “conceded that the information it proposes to release is redundant of the public record,” there is no need to unseal the grand jury materials.
“Contrary to the government’s depiction, the Maxwell grand jury testimony is not a matter of significant historical or public interest,” he wrote. “Far from it. It consists of garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents.” NYTIMES
