The Justice Department (DOJ) requested the release of grand jury testimony transcripts in the trials of convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on Monday.
“The enclosed, annotated transcripts show that much of the information provided during the course of the grand jury testimony—with the exception of the identities of certain victims and witnesses—was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,” Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton wrote in their letter to two district judges.
Bondi and Clayton said their hope is to “compare the exhibits against the voluminous public and sealed exhibits offered at the Maxwell trial” with the release of grand jury testimony.
The grand jury only met twice for Epstein’s trial June 18, 2019, and July 2, 2019. It met three times — June 29, 2020, July 8, 2020, and March 29, 2021 — for Maxwell’s proceedings.
The DOJ has provided notice of its intent to unseal grand jury testimony to all but one of the victims who are referenced in the transcripts, according to the Monday filing. Officials say they have not been able to contact that remaining victim.
“With respect to victims who are not identified in the grand jury transcripts but who have previously received victim notifications in the Maxwell and Epstein matters, the Government will over the coming days alert those victims to the fact of the unsealing motions,” Bondi and Clayton wrote.
The DOJ may also request judges unseal grand jury exhibits but requested several more days to present its position.
The push comes after weeks of controversy surrounding the release of Epstein case files.
Maxwell met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche over two days last month to answer questions on Epstein. Blanche said information from their conversation would be released at the appropriate time.
