Ghislaine Maxwell Opposes Release Of Grand Jury Materials In Her Case
Maxwell's lawyers called unsealing the materials 'a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy' as she tries to appeal her conviction to the Supreme Court. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Justice Department previously asked courts in Florida and New York to unseal grand jury materials due to 'historical or public interest,' but Maxwell's lawyers rejected this assertion, saying 'intense public curiosity' around the case doesn't amount to prosecutors' claim of 'historical' interest.
In a letter filed Tuesday, Maxwell's lawyers said prosecutors in the Southern District of New York made her the 'face of [Epstein's] crimes' after his untimely death in 2019, and 'the scapegoat and the only person the government could put on trial.'
Maxwell's lawyers also claimed she has never had the opportunity to review all of the materials the grand jury collected in 2021, and that the law enforcement personnel who testified before the grand jury and many 'complaining witnesses' remain alive—however the Justice Department previously confirmed in a filing that only an FBI agent and an NYPD detective testified before the grand jury.
Maxwell is currently appealing her conviction to the Supreme Court, with her attorneys arguing she should not have been prosecuted due to a controversial non-prosecution agreement Epstein signed as part of his plea deal.
'Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not. Whatever interest the public might have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options remain viable, and her due process rights remain,' Maxwell's lawyers wrote in the filing Tuesday. Key Background
The Trump administration began releasing files in February related to the federal case against Epstein, but most of the files included in the release had previously been leaked and contained little new information. The Justice Department abruptly ended the releases in July, announcing in a memo that 'no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.' After days of backlash, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin the process to unseal the materials from the grand jury probes into Epstein. However, grand jury proceedings typically remain secret, and a judge in Florida already rejected efforts to unseal materials from the grand juries convened in West Palm Beach in 2005 and 2007.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena the Justice Department for the full unredacted Epstein files, as well as high-profile figures including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They also voted to subpoena Maxwell, but agreed to delay her testimony until after her appeal to the Supreme Court. Further Reading Forbes Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts Don't Include Any Interviews With Victims, DOJ Says By Alison Durkee Forbes Trump And Bondi Promised Epstein Grand Jury Docs—But It Doesn't Mean Anything Will Be Released Today Or Ever By Alison Durkee
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