Judge gives Justice Department a day to detail Ghislaine Maxwell trial materials to be released – Winnipeg Free Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Manhattan is seeking more information from the Justice Department as he weighs its request to unseal records in the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein's longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to tell him what material it plans to release that is subject to a secrecy order in the British socialite's case.

Deadline: Wednesday noon.

Engelmayer's order comes after the Justice Department on Monday asked him for permission to release grand jury transcripts, exhibits and research materials in Maxwell's case.

Engelmayer said government lawyers should include in the case a letter describing the material it wants to release “in sufficient detail to meaningfully inform victims” of what it plans to release.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of Epstein's underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Epstein, a millionaire financial executive known for his association with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and academic elites, killed himself in prison a month after his arrest in 2019.

Engelmayer has already notified the victims and Maxwell that they may respond next month to the Justice Department's request to release the materials before he decides whether to grant them.

The Justice Department said it is seeking court approval to release the material under the Epstein File Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed into law last week by President Donald Trump. He calls for the release of the grand jury and investigative materials in the case.

The request, along with a similar request for grand jury transcripts in the Epstein case, was one of the first public indications that the Justice Department is trying to comply with a transparency law that requires it to release Epstein-related files in a searchable format by Dec. 19.

Engelmayer did not preside over the trial but was assigned to the case after trial Judge Alison J. Nathan was transferred to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The discovery materials covered by the secrecy order will likely include interviews with victims and other materials that previously could only be seen by lawyers or Maxwell before her trial.

Engelmayer said in his order Monday that Maxwell and victims Maxwell and Epstein have until Dec. 3 to respond to the government's request to release the materials. The government must respond to their applications by December 10. The judge said he would make a decision “promptly thereafter.”

Lawyers for the victims did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. A spokesman for federal prosecutors declined to comment.

Judge Richard M. Berman, who presided over Epstein's case until his death, issued an order Tuesday allowing victims and Epstein's estate to respond to the Justice Department's discovery request by Dec. 3. He said the government has until December 8 to respond to any allegations.

Berman said he would make “every effort to resolve this proposal as quickly as possible.”