Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted on five counts for assisting Jeffrey Epstein in the sexual abuse of underage girls. Much of the government’s case became public during her three-week trial, but thousands of pages of documents, photographs, videos and investigative reports remained restricted until now.
The Epstein Transparency Act allows the department to withhold or redact records when disclosure would reveal the identities of victims, expose medical or personal information, or jeopardize an ongoing investigation. Engelmayer’s order adopts those limitations and adds a certification requirement: the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York must submit a sworn declaration confirming that each release has been reviewed for compliance with privacy protections.
The judge noted that alleged victims twice received no advance notice when the government sought permission to unseal records. Describing the issue as more than theoretical, he wrote that the Justice Department had offered only “lip service” to the privacy interests at stake. The new certification provision, he said, is intended to ensure “an identifiable official within DOJ takes ownership of the sensitive and vitally important process of reviewing discovery to be publicly released.”
The department has indicated that forthcoming disclosures could include search-warrant applications, financial and travel records, images and videos of Epstein-owned properties, immigration files, forensic extractions from electronic devices, documents produced by Epstein’s estate, and interview memoranda involving victims and third parties.
Maxwell’s attorneys told the court last week that she would not formally oppose the Justice Department motion, but they argued that releasing untested grand jury allegations could prejudice any potential retrial. Maxwell plans to file a pro se habeas corpus petition seeking a new proceeding. Her lawyers warned that publication of the transcripts might make it impossible to select an impartial jury if that petition succeeds.
Imagem: Internet
Congressional interest in the case remains high. Representative Robert Garica, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the order means the department must immediately comply with the committee’s bipartisan subpoena for all Epstein-related investigative files. He also pointed to a separate ruling in Florida, where U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith last week authorized the unsealing of grand jury materials connected to Epstein’s first federal investigation in the mid-2000s.
A third request is pending before U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan, where prosecutors seek permission to release evidence from the 2019 sex-trafficking case that ended when Epstein died by suicide in a federal detention center. Berman has not yet ruled.
The transparency statute gives the attorney general discretion to withhold documents that could interfere with ongoing prosecutions. However, Engelmayer found no basis in the law to exclude grand jury materials categorically. Instead, he concluded that the act expressly overrides the traditional secrecy provisions of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e).
The Justice Department now faces a tight deadline to organize, review and publish the material. According to Congress.gov, the statute’s 30-day disclosure window will expire in early January, leaving only a few weeks for officials to complete redactions and produce the records.
As the department accelerates its review, victims’ advocates and defense lawyers alike will be monitoring how rigorously prosecutors honor the privacy safeguards embedded in the order. Should further disputes arise, Engelmayer retained jurisdiction to resolve conflicts over any specific document or category of information.
Crédito da imagem: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
