Epstein Files Update: Judge Rules on Unsealing Ghislaine Maxwell Records...

A federal judge has granted the Justice Department’s request to unseal records from the sex trafficking case involving Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate and girlfriend of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Paul. A Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the order on Tuesday morning. When Do the Epstein Files Have to Be Released? The order follows the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the Justice Department to release all of the remaining investigation files within a 30-day deadline, excepting redactions to protect victim and witness identities. The ruling means the records could be made public within 10 days. The law requires the Justice Department to provide Epstein-related records to the public in a searchable format by December 19. Engelmayer is the second judge to allow the Justice Department to publicly disclose previously secret Epstein court records. Last week, a judge in Florida granted the department’s request to release transcripts from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein in the 2000s. A request to release records from Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case is still pending. Trump-MAGA Clash Over Epstein Files The release of the files is the culmination of a years-long campaign led by survivors of Epstein for the full truth about his offending—and, crucially, others who may have been complicit or turned a blind eye to his crimes. It has been a point of tension between U.S. President Donald Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s, and his MAGA base. Many in the MAGA movement believe successive administrations have covered up the whole truth about Epstein. Before entering the White House, Trump and some of his current administration officials pledged full transparency on the Epstein case, hinting at a cover-up. Yet delays to their release and Trump’s dismissal of the Epstein saga as a “Democratic hoax” have frustrated many of his MAGA supporters. He initially opposed a House petition for a bill to release the files, but eventually consented to it when it became clear it would pass with the support of several Republicans. When Did Jeffrey Epstein Die? Epstein, a financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges, a month before he was found dead in a federal jail cell in Manhattan. The death was ruled a suicide. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking charges in December 2021. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Maxwell, a British socialite, was moved over the summer from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas as her criminal case generated renewed public attention. The Epstein, Maxwell Files to Be Unsealed In response to a request by the New York judges for more specifics on what it would release, the department said in recent submissions in Manhattan federal court that the materials would include 18 categories including search warrants, financial records, survivor interview notes, electronic device data and material from earlier Epstein investigations in Florida. The government said it was conferring with survivors and their lawyers and planned to redact records to ensure protection of survivors’ identities and prevent the dissemination of sexualized images. After the request to unseal investigative files last month, two judges in New York invited Maxwell, the Epstein estate and accusers to provide opinions about the request. Maxwell’s lawyer said his client took no position about the requested unsealing, except to note that her plans to file a habeas petition could be spoiled because the public release of materials “would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial” if the habeas request succeeded. Lawyers for the Epstein estate took no position. This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow. This article includes reporting by The Associated Press. File photo: Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, during a news conference in New York on July 2, 2020.