a day ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Ghislaine Maxwell's grand jury testimony won't be released, judge rules
A US judge denied on Monday the Justice Department's bid to unseal records from the grand jury that indicted the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges, writing that the records did not answer lingering questions from the public about their crimes or Epstein's death.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written ruling that the government had suggested that the materials could be released publicly 'casually or promiscuously', which would risk 'unravelling the foundations of secrecy upon which the grand jury is premised' and eroding confidence by persons called to testify before future grand juries.
'And it is no answer to argue that releasing the grand jury materials, because they are redundant of the evidence at Maxwell's trial, would be innocuous. The same could be said for almost any grand jury testimony, by summary witnesses or others, given in support of charges that later proceeded to trial,' he added.
Federal prosecutors had asked to unseal the documents, in an effort to calm a whirlpool of suspicions about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who died behind bars while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, his socialite ex-girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls.
It's unclear how much the transcripts would have revealed, since the Justice Department has acknowledged that they contained no testimony from witnesses who were not members of law enforcement.
A US judge denied a request to unseal grand jury records related to Ghislaine Maxwell's indictment, stating they do not resolve public questions about her crimes or Epstein's death. Photo: US District Court for the Southern District of New York/AFP
interviewed by the Justice Department and was moved from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Her lawyer says she testified truthfully.
