Ghislaine Maxwell Opposes Release of Epstein Case Documents (1)

Jeffrey Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding the financier’s sex trafficking of young women, is opposing the US Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts in her criminal case, saying she is still fighting her conviction.

“The public interest identified by the government — while understandable — is insufficient to warrant disclosure of grand jury materials at this time,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote in a letter Tuesday to US District Judge Paul Engelmayer. “The government frames this interest as ‘historical,’ yet it is nothing more than widespread and intense public scrutiny about an ongoing criminal case.”

The Trump administration last month asked a pair of federal judges in New York to permit release of transcripts for the proceedings of grand juries that indicted Epstein and Maxwell given public interest in the case. The judges gave the estate of Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, and Maxwell until today to respond to the government’s proposal, as well as any victims who wished to give their perspective.

Epstein’s estate took no position on the unsealing request. But Maxwell argued that public 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.” Maxwell’s lawyers said her case is currently pending before the US Supreme Court.

Victims’ Statements

Some of Epstein’s victims have also weighed in. A pair of unidentified victims and a lawyer for another group blasted the Trump administration and the Justice Department for their attempts to unseal grand jury testimony in the criminal case against the late financier, saying government officials haven’t listened to the voices of people who were harmed by his actions.

Annie Farmer, one of the Epstein victims that testified against Maxwell, also criticized the government’s approach in a letter to the judges, saying it has “largely ignored” the viewpoints of victims. But Farmer said that she supports unsealing the transcripts because such a move will “help expose the magnitude and abhorrence of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes.”

“Ms. Farmer is thankful for the Court’s invitations to state the victims’ positions, and supports the unsealing of the grand jury transcripts, as well as the accompanying grand jury exhibits, with redactions only as necessary to protect victims’ names, likenesses, and identifying information,” her lawyers wrote. “Transparency is critical to justice, and the public has a legitimate interest in understanding the full scope of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, particularly where those actions caused lasting harm to others.”

Maxwell met last month with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, and has been subpoenaed to testify before Congress about Epstein, while demanding immunity in exchange. She was subsequently moved to a minimum-security facility in Texas.

President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have rushed to respond to public pressure over the case of Epstein, who died by suicide while in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Trump has acknowledged a friendship with Epstein, but says it ended years before Epstein’s death.

Maxwell’s lawyers said she has never had a chance to review the grand jury materials in her case and doesn’t know what is in them.

“Disclosure of grand jury materials at this stage risks irreparably tainting the legal process by injecting sealed testimony into the public debate while judicial review is ongoing,” her attorneys said. They added that the harm from releasing the materials would be “severe and irrevocable” and would “inevitably influence” any future legal proceedings if Maxwell succeeds in her appeal.

The case is US v. Maxwell, 20-cr-330, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with victims’ statements.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth

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