Judge orders Justice Department to identify materials it plans to unseal in Maxwell case
A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered the Justice Department to provide a detailed accounting of the grand jury records, exhibits and discovery materials it intends to make public from the Ghislaine Maxwell prosecution as he considers the government’s request to lift existing secrecy orders.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer directed prosecutors to file a letter on the case docket by noon Wednesday identifying, with enough specificity, which documents they propose to release so that victims can understand what will be disclosed. Engelmayer wrote that the government’s submission must describe materials "in sufficient detail to meaningfully inform victims."
The Justice Department filed the unsealing request to comply with the recently enacted Epstein Files Transparency Act, which requires the department to publish Epstein-related grand jury and discovery materials in a searchable format by Dec. 19. The DOJ asked the court for permission to unseal grand jury records, exhibits and discovery in Maxwell’s prosecution.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury on sex‑trafficking charges for recruiting some of Jeffrey Epstein’s underage victims and is serving a 20‑year sentence. Epstein died by suicide in jail a month after his 2019 arrest.
Engelmayer — who was assigned the matter after the trial judge, Alison J. Nathan, was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — has given Maxwell and identified victims notice that they may file responses to the government’s unsealing request. Under his schedule, victims and Maxwell may file oppositions by Dec. 3, and the government must reply by Dec. 10. The judge said he will rule promptly after receiving the filings.
Separately, Judge Richard M. Berman, who previously oversaw earlier proceedings in the Epstein litigation, issued an order allowing victims and Epstein’s estate to oppose the Justice Department’s unsealing motion by Dec. 3 and gave the government until Dec. 8 to respond. Berman said he would make his "best efforts to resolve this motion promptly."
At the time of the order, lawyers for the victims had not immediately responded to requests for comment, and a Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
