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A federal judge has determined that the Department of Justice can proceed with the disclosure of investigative materials from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.

Court Order Clears the Path for Records Release

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer made the decision after the Justice Department formally requested in November to make public grand jury transcripts and exhibits from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This request could lead to the release of hundreds or thousands of hitherto sealed documents.

The judge's decision, which comes in the wake of the recent passage of the Transparency Act, means these records could be released within a 10-day window. The new law mandates the Justice Department to provide pertaining to Epstein records in a searchable format by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the second judge to allow the Justice Department to release previously secret Epstein court records. Recently, a Florida judge granted a comparable petition to release transcripts from an earlier federal probe into Epstein from the 2000s.

A further petition concerning records from Epstein's 2019 sex-trafficking case is still under consideration.

Breadth of Disclosure Greatly Expanded

The DOJ has stated that the U.S. Congress intended this disclosure when it enacted the transparency act. The latest request vastly expanded the range of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of investigative materials during the extensive probe.

These documents are reported to include items such as:

• Search warrants
• Financial records
• Notes from victim interviews
• Data from digital devices
• Evidence from prior probes in Florida

Case Background

Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of related charges in December 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The government has indicated it is consulting survivors and their lawyers and will edit records to safeguard victim anonymity and prevent the dissemination of sensitive imagery.

Prior Releases

A significant number of pages of records pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through various means, including civil cases, official releases, and FOIA requests.

Much of the material the DOJ now plans to release originates from photos, videos, and reports collected by police in Palm Beach, Florida and the local U.S. attorney’s office, both of which investigated Epstein in the 2000s.

That investigation ended in 2008 with a confidential deal that allowed Epstein to avoid federal prosecution by entering a guilty plea to a state charge. He completed 13 months in a jail work-release program.