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A federal judge has determined that the Department of Justice can proceed with the disclosure of investigative materials from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.

Court Order Paves the Way for Records Release

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the ruling after the Justice Department formally requested in November to unseal grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of Epstein and Maxwell. This action could lead to the release of hundreds or thousands of hitherto sealed documents.

The court's ruling, which comes in the wake of the recent passage of the Transparency Act, means these materials could be released within a 10-day period. The legislation requires the DOJ to provide Epstein-related records in a digitally searchable form by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the latest jurist to permit the DOJ to publicly disclose once-confidential records from the Epstein case. Recently, a Florida judge approved a similar request to unseal records from an earlier federal probe into Epstein from the early 2000s.

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

Breadth of Disclosure Greatly Expanded

The DOJ has stated that the U.S. Congress aimed for this disclosure when it enacted the Transparency Act. The latest request vastly expanded the scope of files slated for release to include 18 categories of investigative materials during the extensive sex-trafficking investigation.

These documents are reported to include items such as:

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

Context of the Cases

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was taken into custody in July 2019 on federal charges. He was found dead in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death officially deemed a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex-trafficking charges in December 2021 and is serving a two-decade sentence.

The federal authorities has indicated it is consulting victims and their attorneys and plans to redact records to safeguard victim anonymity and stop the sharing of sensitive imagery.

Previous Disclosures

Tens of thousands of pages of records pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have previously been made public through various means, including civil cases, official releases, and FOIA requests.

Much of the material the Justice Department now intends to disclose originates from photos, videos, and reports gathered by police in Palm Beach, Florida and the federal prosecutor's office there, both of which investigated Epstein in the mid-2000s.

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