A federal judge in New York has flatly rejected the Justice Department’s push to unseal grand jury transcripts from its criminal investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell, delivering a scathing rebuke of the government’s reasoning and suggesting the move was more about optics than substance.
In his Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer dismantled the DOJ’s claim that releasing the transcripts would shed “meaningful new information” about Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, or the government’s investigation. “Its entire premise… is demonstrably false,” he wrote, labeling the department’s argument “disingenuous.”
BREAKING: Federal judge denies Trump admin move to unseal grand jury testimony from Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell case pic.twitter.com/DLsdNKETn9
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The DOJ had sought disclosure of the Maxwell grand jury materials amid lingering criticism over the Trump administration’s decision not to release Epstein’s full investigative file. The effort follows similar, unsuccessful bids to unseal grand jury records from earlier Epstein cases, including a July 23 ruling in Florida that also went against the department. Another request concerning Epstein’s later Manhattan indictment is still pending.
Engelmayer noted that grand jury secrecy is a principle “older than our Nation itself” and that none of the DOJ’s justifications met the legal exceptions required for disclosure under federal appeals court precedent. Far from offering groundbreaking revelations, he said, the transcripts amounted to “garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents” and added nothing of consequence to the public record.
🚨 Obama Appointed Judge Engelmeyer has *denied* the Trump administration’s bid to unseal Jeffrey Epstein grand jury material. pic.twitter.com/dfagKWKfil
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In a particularly pointed passage, Engelmayer warned that a reasonable observer could view the DOJ’s motion as a diversionary tactic rather than a genuine transparency effort. “A member of the public… might conclude that the Government’s motion… was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such,” he wrote.
Maxwell, convicted in late 2021 of grooming underage girls for Epstein’s abuse, is serving a 20-year sentence. Epstein, arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges in July 2019, died by suicide weeks later in a Manhattan federal jail.
Engelmayer’s ruling leaves the DOJ with little room to maneuver on the Maxwell materials.
