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

Judicial Ruling Paves the Way for Records Release

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the ruling after the DOJ asked the court in November to make public grand jury records and exhibits from the cases of Epstein and Maxwell. This action could lead to the publication of hundreds or thousands of hitherto sealed documents.

The judge's decision, which follows the recent passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, means these records could be released within a 10-day period. The new law requires the Justice Department to provide pertaining to Epstein records in a digitally searchable form by December 19.

Growing Trend of Disclosure

Engelmayer is the second judge to allow the DOJ to release once-confidential records from the Epstein case. Recently, a Florida judge approved a similar request to unseal records from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein from the early 2000s.

A further petition concerning records from Epstein's 2019 criminal case is still under consideration.

Scope of Release Significantly Enlarged

The Justice Department has stated that the U.S. Congress aimed for this disclosure when it enacted the Transparency Act. The most recent filing vastly expanded the range of files slated for release to include eighteen distinct types of investigative materials during the wide-ranging probe.

These documents are reported to include items such as:

• Court-issued warrants
• Financial records
• Survivor interview notes
• Electronic device data
• Material from earlier Epstein investigations in Florida

Case Background

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in a federal jail cell a month later, with his death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex-trafficking charges in December 2021 and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The federal authorities has indicated it is conferring with survivors and their lawyers and plans to redact records to protect survivors' identities and stop the sharing of sensitive imagery.

Previous Disclosures

A significant number of pages of documents pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have already been released through various means, including lawsuits, official releases, and FOIA requests.

Much of the evidence the Justice Department now intends to disclose stems from reports, photographs, videos gathered by police in Florida and the local U.S. attorney’s office, both of which looked into 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 charge. He completed 13 months in a jail work-release program.