New York Judge Denies Release of Maxwell, Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts

A judge in Manhattan has ruled against releasing the secret grand jury transcripts related to the sex trafficking indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend, rejecting the Trump administration’s request to unseal them. Judge Paul Engelmayer criticized the Justice Department’s argument for transparency as a misleading attempt to create an illusion of openness, stating that the transcripts add no new information about Epstein, Maxwell, or any accomplices, and do not reveal unknown details about their crimes or investigations. The judge emphasized that federal law rarely permits releasing grand jury materials, warning that doing so casually could undermine the secrecy essential to the grand jury process. Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein, had opposed the release, fearing it might affect her ongoing appeals. The decision does not impact thousands of other government documents that remain unreleased, and a separate judge is handling a similar request for Epstein’s grand jury transcripts. The ruling also touched on the broader public interest, suggesting the government’s push for unsealing was more about diversion than genuine transparency amid ongoing public scrutiny of Epstein-related investigations.