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A federal judge has ruled that the Justice Department can proceed with the disclosure of investigative materials from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the close associate of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judicial Ruling Paves the Way for Document Disclosure

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer made the decision after the DOJ asked the court in November to unseal grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This action could lead to the release of hundreds or thousands of hitherto sealed documents.

The judge's decision, which follows the recent enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, means these records could be made public within a 10-day period. The new law requires the Justice Department to provide Epstein-related records in a digitally searchable form by a specified date in December.

Growing Trend of Unsealing

Engelmayer is the second judge to allow the Justice Department to release once-confidential records from the Epstein case. Recently, a Florida judge granted a similar request to unseal records from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein from the 2000s.

A further petition concerning records from Epstein's 2019 sex-trafficking case remains pending.

Scope of Release Significantly Enlarged

The DOJ has stated that Congress intended this unsealing when it passed the Transparency Act. The latest request vastly expanded the range of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of investigative materials during the wide-ranging probe.

These materials are reported to include items such as:

• Search warrants
• Financial records
• Survivor interview notes
• Data from digital devices
• Material from earlier Epstein investigations in Florida

Case Background

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of sex-trafficking charges in December 2021 and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The government has indicated it is consulting survivors and their lawyers and plans to redact records to protect survivors' identities and prevent the dissemination of sensitive imagery.

Prior Releases

A significant number of pages of records pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through various means, including civil cases, official releases, and FOIA requests.

Much of the evidence the Justice Department now intends to disclose stems from photos, videos, and reports gathered by police in Florida and the federal prosecutor's office there, both of which investigated Epstein in the 2000s.

That investigation concluded in 2008 with a then-secret arrangement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges by pleading guilty to a state charge. He served 13 months in a work-release program.