Overview
- Maxwell notified Judge Paul Engelmayer she will file a habeas corpus petition on her own and argued that releasing grand jury materials would cause severe prejudice to any potential retrial.
- The Justice Department asked courts to unseal grand jury transcripts and modify protective orders to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Donald Trump, which mandates public release by Dec. 19 with narrow exceptions.
- Engelmayer set responses due Dec. 10 in the Maxwell docket and said he will rule promptly, while Judge Richard M. Berman set a Dec. 8 government reply in the Epstein case and pledged a swift decision.
- Victim Annie Farmer, through attorney Sigrid S. McCawley, urged disclosure with safeguards for survivors’ identities and asked courts not to impede broader DOJ releases; lawyers for Epstein’s estate took no position.
- Previous filings indicate Maxwell’s grand jury transcripts largely reflect law‑enforcement presentations rather than direct victim testimony, and judges have noted the public may learn little new from them.