🔗 Share this article Federal Judge Rules Justice Department May Make Public Ghislaine Maxwell Case Materials A federal judge has determined that the Department of Justice is authorized to carry out the disclosure of investigative materials from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the close associate of Jeffrey Epstein. Judicial Ruling Paves the Way for Records Release Judge Paul A. Engelmayer made the decision after the Justice Department formally requested in November to make public grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This request 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 records could be made public within a 10-day period. The new law mandates the DOJ to provide Epstein-related records in a searchable format by December 19. Judicial Pattern of Disclosure Engelmayer is the latest jurist to permit the DOJ to publicly disclose once-confidential Epstein court records. Recently, a Florida judge granted a similar request to release transcripts from an earlier federal probe into Epstein from the early 2000s. A further petition concerning records from Epstein's 2019 criminal case remains pending. Breadth of Disclosure Significantly Enlarged The DOJ has stated that Congress intended this disclosure when it passed the transparency act. The most recent filing dramatically enlarged the scope of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of investigative materials during the wide-ranging sex-trafficking investigation. These materials are reported to include items such as: Search warrants Financial records Notes from victim interviews Electronic device data Evidence from prior probes in Florida Case Background Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on federal charges. He was discovered deceased in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of sex-trafficking charges in December 2021 and is currently serving a two-decade sentence. The federal authorities has indicated it is conferring with victims and their attorneys and plans to redact records to safeguard victim anonymity and stop the sharing of sensitive imagery. Previous Disclosures A significant number of pages of documents related to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through different channels, including civil cases, public disclosures, and Freedom of Information Act requests. Much of the material the DOJ now plans to release stems 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 mid-2000s. That federal probe ended 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 over a year in a work-release program.