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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 close associate of Jeffrey Epstein.

Court Order Clears the Path for Records Release

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the ruling after the DOJ asked the court in November to unseal grand jury transcripts and evidence from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This request could lead to the publication of a vast number of previously unreleased documents.

The judge's decision, which follows the recent passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, means these records could be made public within a 10-day period. The new law mandates the Justice Department to provide pertaining to Epstein records in a digitally searchable form by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the latest jurist to allow the Justice Department to release once-confidential Epstein court records. Recently, a judge in Florida approved a similar request to unseal records 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 vastly expanded the scope of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of evidence gathered during the wide-ranging probe.

These documents are reported to include items such as:

• Court-issued warrants
• Financial records
• Survivor interview notes
• Data from digital devices
• Evidence from prior probes in Florida

Context of the Cases

Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on federal 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 currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The federal authorities has indicated it is conferring with victims and their attorneys and will edit records to safeguard victim anonymity and stop the sharing of explicit imagery.

Prior Releases

A significant number of pages of documents pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through various means, including civil cases, official releases, and Freedom of Information Act requests.

Much of the evidence the DOJ now plans to release originates from reports, photographs, videos gathered 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 investigation concluded in 2008 with a then-secret arrangement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal prosecution by pleading guilty to a state prostitution charge. He served 13 months in a work-release program.