A federal judge on Monday rejected the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury testimony in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who assisted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in victimizing young girls.
President Donald Trump announced in July that he was instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to request that the transcript from the grand jury be released.
“Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York denied the Justice Department’s request, arguing that the government’s arguments did not meet the legal exceptions for disclosure. He stressed that grand jury secrecy is a longstanding principle that is “older than our Nation itself.”
He shot down the Justice Department’s suggestion that releasing the transcripts would shed new light on Epstein’s crimes and who was involved in his sex trafficking operation. He argued that its “entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the Government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false.”
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NEW: A federal judge denies the DOJ’s effort to unseal grand jury material in the Ghislaine Maxwell case, rejecting the “entire premise”:
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) August 11, 2025
“Insofar as the motion to unseal implies that the grand jury materials are an untapped mine lode of undisclosed information about Epstein or… pic.twitter.com/UOkZGZ5Ro2
The judge further stated that unsealing the records would not serve the public interest or “reveal new information of any consequence.” He suggested that the Justice Department’s request appeared to be a public relations move and that a reasonable person “might conclude that the Government’s mottion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.”
“Contrary to the Government’s depiction, the Maxwell grand jury testimony is not a matter of significant historical or public interest… It consists of garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents,” Engelmayer wrote.
Judge UNLOADS on Trump DOJ's gambit to unseal Maxwell grand jury records:
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) August 11, 2025
"The one colorable argument under that doctrine for unsealing in this case, in fact, is that doing so would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal."
It's "aimed… pic.twitter.com/nsbKYjKjD7
The Justice Department’s request came after fierce backlash against an agency memo claiming that Epstein did not have a list of high-profile clients who participated in his sex trafficking operations. The memo also claimed Epstein actually did commit suicide in 2019, a claim that has been met with skepticism.
The Trump administration could choose to appeal the matter to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, but it is not yet clear whether it intends to do so.
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