Judge Denies Justice Department Request to Unseal Ghislaine Maxwell Grand Jury Records

A federal judge in New York has denied the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case. Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled that the proposed release would not reveal any meaningful new information beyond what was already disclosed during Maxwell's public trial. Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, is currently serving a 20 years prison sentence following her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges, and has appealed her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Department of Justice sought the unsealing amid pressure on President Donald Trump’s administration to be more transparent about its knowledge of Epstein and Maxwell's crimes. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial. The judge emphasized that the public familiar with the trial record would learn little from the grand jury materials, underscoring the court's position to keep these records sealed.