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A U.S. judge has determined that the Justice Department is authorized to carry out the disclosure of case files from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judicial Ruling Paves the Way for Records Release

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the ruling after the DOJ asked the court in November to make public grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This request could lead to the release of hundreds or thousands of hitherto sealed documents.

The court's ruling, which follows the recent passage of the Transparency Act, means these materials could be released within a 10-day period. The new law mandates the Justice Department to provide Epstein-related records in a searchable format by December 19.

Judicial Pattern of Disclosure

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

A separate request concerning records from Epstein's 2019 criminal case is still under consideration.

Scope of Release Greatly Expanded

The Justice Department has stated that Congress intended this disclosure when it passed the transparency act. The most recent filing dramatically enlarged the range of files slated for release to include 18 categories of investigative materials during the extensive sex-trafficking investigation.

These documents are reported to include items such as:

• Court-issued warrants
• Financial records
• Notes from victim interviews
• Electronic device data
• Material from prior probes in Florida

Case Background

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death officially deemed a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex-trafficking charges in December 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The government has indicated it is conferring with survivors and their lawyers and will edit records to safeguard victim anonymity and stop the sharing of explicit imagery.

Prior Releases

Tens of thousands of pages of documents pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through various means, including lawsuits, official releases, and FOIA requests.

Much of the evidence the DOJ now plans to release stems from photos, videos, and reports gathered by police in Palm Beach, Florida and the federal prosecutor's office there, both of which investigated Epstein in the mid-2000s.

That investigation concluded in 2008 with a confidential deal that enabled Epstein to evade federal prosecution by pleading guilty to a state charge. He served over a year in a work-release program.