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By Shane Croucher
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A federal judge has denied the Department of Justice's request to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Newsweek reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The ruling is a blow for President Donald Trump and his administration, which came to power on a promise of full transparency over the Epstein case, fueled by a fervent belief among the MAGA movement of an establishment cover-up of the truth about the disgraced financier's activities.
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But the DOJ reviewed the files and concluded there is no credible evidence that Epstein blackmailed people in his network of elite contacts, nor that he maintained a client list of powerful and wealthy people for whom he procured children to abuse, or that he was murdered in prison.
Securing the release of the secret grand jury testimonies was intended to appease those who still maintain there was a cover-up, and who have sharply criticized Trump and his officials for their handling of the Epstein files.
Trump has urged his supporters to move on from thinking about Epstein.
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Ghislaine Maxwell Grand Jury Documents: Federal Judge Rejects Bid to Unseal Docs
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York said the grand jury transcripts sought by the Trump administration did not contain any significant information. He also said much of it was already public knowledge.
"Contrary to the Government's depiction, the Maxwell grand jury testimony is not a matter of significant historical or public interest," the judge wrote in his ruling, published Monday, August 11.
"Far from it. It consists of garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents.
"And the information it contains is already almost entirely a matter of longstanding public record, principally as a result of live testimony by percipient witnesses at the 2021 Maxwell trial."
Engelmayer also wrote that the government had suggested that the materials could be released publicly "casually or promiscuously," which would risk "unraveling the foundations of secrecy upon which the grand jury is premised" and eroding confidence by persons called to testify before future grand juries.
"And it is no answer to argue that releasing the grand jury materials, because they are redundant of the evidence at Maxwell's trial, would be innocuous," the judge wrote.
"The same could be said for almost any grand jury testimony, by summary witnesses or others, given in support of charges that later proceeded to trial."
Judges Weigh Epstein Grand Jury Transcript Release
Prosecutors have said much of what was discussed behind the grand jury's closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell's 2021 trial, in victims' lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses.
The only grand jury witnesses were law enforcement officers.
The decision about the grand jury transcripts doesn't affect thousands of other pages that the government possesses but has declined to release. The DOJ has said much of the material was court-sealed to protect victims, and little of it would have come out if Epstein had gone to trial.
Another federal judge is still weighing whether to release the transcripts from the grand jury testimony that led to Epstein's indictment. A federal judge in Florida declined to release grand jury documents from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.
Some Epstein victims supported releasing the grand jury transcripts with some redactions. Other accusers said the debate over the material was causing them anguish.
Maxwell, who is appealing her conviction, opposed unsealing the documents. Her lawyers said she hasn't seen them but believed they were full of questionable statements that her defense had no opportunity to challenge.
The DOJ recently interviewed Maxwell, and she was moved from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Her attorney says she testified truthfully.
Will Trump Pardon Ghislaine Maxwell?
Trump has not pardoned Maxwell, but has commented on the possibility while speaking to the press amid speculation in the media that a pardon could be tied to her providing incriminating new information related to Epstein.
"Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's approached me with it, nobody's asked me about it," Trump told reporters when asked about a Maxwell pardon in July.
"It's in the news about that—that aspect of it, but right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it."
The remark echoed the president's previous comments, when he told reporters: "It's something I haven't thought about...I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about."
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
Update 8/11/25, 10:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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