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A federal judge has ruled that the Justice Department can proceed with the public release of case files from the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judicial Ruling Clears the Path for Document Disclosure

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer made the decision after the DOJ formally requested in November to make public grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of both Maxwell and Epstein. This request could lead to the release of hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.

The court's ruling, which follows the recent passage of the Transparency Act, means these materials could be made public within a 10-day window. The new law requires the DOJ to provide pertaining to Epstein records in a digitally searchable form by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the second judge to allow the DOJ to release once-confidential Epstein court records. Recently, a judge in Florida granted a similar request to release transcripts from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein from the early 2000s.

A further petition concerning records from Epstein's 2019 sex-trafficking case is still under consideration.

Scope of Release Greatly Expanded

The Justice Department has stated that the U.S. Congress aimed for this disclosure when it passed the Transparency Act. The latest request dramatically enlarged the range of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of investigative materials during the extensive probe.

These materials are reported to include items such as:

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

Case Background

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of sex-trafficking charges in December 2021 and is currently serving a two-decade sentence.

The government has indicated it is conferring with survivors and their lawyers and will edit records to protect survivors' identities and prevent the dissemination of explicit imagery.

Previous Disclosures

Tens of thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through different channels, including lawsuits, official releases, and Freedom of Information Act requests.

Much of the material the Justice Department now plans to release stems from reports, photographs, videos gathered by police in Florida and the federal prosecutor's office there, both of which looked into Epstein in the mid-2000s.

That investigation concluded in 2008 with a confidential deal that allowed Epstein to avoid federal prosecution by entering a guilty plea to a state prostitution charge. He completed 13 months in a jail work-release program.