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A U.S. judge has determined that the Department of Justice can proceed with the disclosure of investigative materials from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judicial Ruling Paves the Way for Document Disclosure

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer made the decision after the DOJ formally requested in November to make public grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This action could lead to the publication of hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.

The judge's decision, which follows the recent passage of the Transparency Act, means these materials could be made public within a 10-day window. The legislation mandates the DOJ to provide Epstein-related records in a searchable format by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the latest jurist to permit the DOJ to release once-confidential Epstein court records. Recently, a judge in Florida approved a similar request to unseal records from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein from the early 2000s.

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

Breadth of Disclosure Greatly Expanded

The DOJ has stated that the U.S. Congress aimed for this unsealing when it enacted the transparency act. The latest request dramatically enlarged the range of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of evidence gathered during the extensive probe.

These documents are reported to include items such as:

• Court-issued warrants
• Banking documents
• Survivor interview notes
• Electronic device data
• Evidence from earlier Epstein investigations in Florida

Context of the Cases

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in a prison cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of related 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 plans to redact records to protect survivors' identities and stop the sharing of explicit imagery.

Previous Disclosures

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 material the DOJ now plans to release originates from photos, videos, and reports collected by police in Palm Beach, Florida and the local U.S. attorney’s office, both of which looked into Epstein in the mid-2000s.

That federal probe ended in 2008 with a then-secret arrangement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges by entering a guilty plea to a state charge. He completed over a year in a jail work-release program.