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A federal judge has determined 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.

Court Order Paves the Way for Records Release

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the ruling after the DOJ formally requested in November to make public grand jury transcripts and evidence from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This request could lead to the release of a vast number of previously unreleased documents.

The court's ruling, which comes in the wake of the recent enactment of the Transparency Act, means these records could be made public within a 10-day period. The new law mandates the Justice Department to provide pertaining to Epstein records in a digitally searchable form by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the second judge to permit the DOJ to publicly disclose once-confidential records from the Epstein case. Recently, a Florida judge approved a similar request to release transcripts from an earlier federal probe into Epstein from the early 2000s.

A further petition concerning records from Epstein's 2019 criminal case remains pending.

Scope of Release Greatly Expanded

The DOJ has stated that Congress intended this disclosure when it enacted the Transparency Act. The most recent filing vastly expanded the scope of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of investigative materials during the extensive probe.

These materials are reported to include items such as:

• Search warrants
• Financial records
• Notes from victim interviews
• Electronic device data
• Evidence from prior probes in Florida

Case Background

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges. He was found dead in a prison 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 federal authorities has indicated it is conferring with victims and their attorneys and plans to redact records to safeguard victim anonymity and stop the sharing of sensitive imagery.

Previous Disclosures

Tens of thousands of pages of records related to Epstein and Maxwell have already been released through various means, including lawsuits, public disclosures, and FOIA requests.

Much of the evidence the DOJ now intends to disclose stems from photos, videos, and reports gathered by police in Florida and the local U.S. attorney’s office, both of which looked into Epstein in the 2000s.

That investigation ended in 2008 with a confidential deal that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges by pleading guilty to a state charge. He served over a year in a jail work-release program.