Ghislaine Maxwell files will not be released despite Trump order
Paul Engelmayer, a Manhattan District Court judge, suggested the Department of Justice (DOJ) had requested the transcripts be released to create the 'illusion' of transparency.
The judge said the files would not reveal any new information, adding that they 'do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein's or Maxwell's'.
The decision will come as a blow to Donald Trump, who continues to grapple with the fallout after his administration closed the Jeffrey Epstein case.
The administration's refusal to release information surrounding Epstein, the late financier and convicted paedophile, prompted a backlash from some of Mr Trump's most loyal supporters.
In an effort to placate his base Mr Trump ordered Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, to seek the release of grand jury testimony related to the case in July.
However, in a ruling filed on Monday, Mr Engelmayer said none of the arguments made by the DoJ for unsealing the transcripts met the requirements to authorise the disclosure of grand jury materials.
'The Court's review confirmed that unsealing the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence,' Mr Engelmayer wrote.
He added: 'A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government's motion for their unsealing was aimed not at 'transparency' but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.'
In the 31-page order, Mr Engelmayer said the DoJ's argument that the unsealing of the documents was necessary because of public interest 'fails at the threshold'.
He said the suggestion that the transcripts would bring 'meaningful new information' about Epstein and Maxwell's crimes was 'demonstrably false'and the public 'would thus learn nothing new' from their disclosure.
The judge said the files 'do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein's or Maxwell's' and 'do not reveal any heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein's or Maxwell's crimes'.
He added: 'They do not reveal new venues at which their crimes occurred. They do not reveal new sources of their wealth. They do not explore the circumstances of Epstein's death. They do not reveal the path of the government's investigation.'
Weeks before the Trump administration announced it would not release the so-called Epstein files, Mr Trump was reportedly told his name came up several times in the documents, according to Wall Street Journal.
Being mentioned in the files is not a sign of wrongdoing, and the Trump administration said the story was 'fake news'.
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