Overview
- U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman on Dec. 10 approved unsealing grand jury materials from Epstein’s 2019 New York case, emphasizing victim privacy and noting the limited, largely hearsay nature of the roughly 70 pages.
- A day earlier, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer authorized release of grand jury transcripts, exhibits, and investigative files from Ghislaine Maxwell’s case and ordered the SDNY U.S. attorney to personally certify rigorous victim‑privacy reviews before publication.
- The New York rulings follow a Dec. 5 decision by Judge Rodney Smith in Florida allowing release of transcripts from an earlier abandoned federal probe, collectively removing key judicial barriers to public disclosure.
- The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed on Nov. 19, requires DOJ to publish unclassified Epstein‑related records by Dec. 19 in a searchable format with narrow, temporary withholdings for active investigations and mandatory redactions to protect survivors.
- DOJ has previewed a broad trove across 18 categories—such as search warrants, financial records, survivor interview notes, and device data—while Maxwell’s lawyers warn public disclosure could prejudice planned retrial or habeas efforts despite not formally opposing unsealing.