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

Court Order Clears the Path for Records Release

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

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

Judicial Pattern of Unsealing

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

A separate request concerning records from Epstein's 2019 criminal case remains pending.

Scope of Release Significantly Enlarged

The Justice Department has stated that Congress intended this unsealing when it passed the transparency act. The latest request dramatically enlarged the scope of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of evidence gathered during the wide-ranging sex-trafficking investigation.

These materials are reported to include items such as:

• Search warrants
• Banking documents
• Survivor interview notes
• Electronic device data
• Material from prior probes in Florida

Context of the Cases

Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was discovered deceased in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of related 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 protect survivors' identities and stop the sharing of explicit imagery.

Prior Releases

Tens of thousands of pages of records related to Epstein and Maxwell have already been released through different channels, including lawsuits, public disclosures, and Freedom of Information Act requests.

Much of the evidence the DOJ now plans to release originates from photos, videos, and reports gathered by police in Palm Beach, Florida and the local U.S. attorney’s office, both of which investigated Epstein in the 2000s.

That investigation concluded in 2008 with a then-secret arrangement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal prosecution by entering a guilty plea to a state charge. He completed 13 months in a jail work-release program.