A federal judge in Manhattan delivered a scathing rebuke to the Trump administration on Monday, denying the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer dismissed the DOJ’s motion in a 31-page opinion, writing that the government’s entire premise for unsealing the materials was “demonstrably false”. The judge found that the grand jury materials would reveal “next to nothing new” about Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes or the government’s investigation into them.
Judge Engelmayer went further than simply denying the motion, suggesting the DOJ’s push for transparency might actually be a diversion tactic. He wrote that “a member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion—aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such”.
The judge noted that the only argument for unsealing would be to “expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal.”
After reviewing the sealed materials, Judge Engelmayer revealed key details about their limited scope. The grand juries in Maxwell’s case were not used for investigative purposes and heard testimony from only two law enforcement agents who provided summary witness testimony rather than firsthand accounts.
“The grand juries met instead for the quotidian purpose of returning an indictment,” the judge wrote, noting they did not hear from “any victim, eyewitness, suspect, or even a records custodian.”
The materials do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor, do not discuss clients, and do not reveal new information about their crimes, sources of wealth, or the circumstances of Epstein’s death.
The unsealing request came after the Trump administration faced significant backlash from the president’s MAGA supporters over the DOJ’s July announcement that no additional Epstein files would be released. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi had promised transparency, stating the administration was “lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators”.
Judge Engelmayer criticized several procedural aspects of the government’s motion, noting it was filed without advance notice to victims and without involvement from any prosecutors who handled Maxwell’s 2021 trial. Instead, only Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who later interviewed Maxwell, signed the motion.
While many victims initially supported disclosure of the materials with proper redactions, their position appeared based on the “understandable but mistaken belief that these materials would reveal new information,” according to the judge. Some victims expressed alarm at the DOJ’s recent actions regarding Maxwell, including transferring her to a lower-security prison and conducting interviews with her.
The ruling reinforces the traditional secrecy of grand jury proceedings under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e).
Similar requests to unseal Epstein-related grand jury materials have been rejected in Florida, while another motion regarding Epstein’s own case remains pending before a different Manhattan judge.
Maxwell, now 62, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking charges for her role in facilitating Epstein’s abuse of underage girls. Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
According to multiple sources, Trump’s name appears in the DOJ’s Epstein investigation files.
