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a federal judge in manhattan Seeking more information from Justice Department As he considers a request to unseal records from the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell,
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to tell her what materials it planned to publicly release that were subject to confidentiality orders in the British socialite’s case.
Deadline: Wednesday at noon.
Engelmayer’s order came after the Justice Department on Monday asked for permission to release grand jury records, exhibits and discovery materials. maxwell Case.
Engelmayer said government lawyers should file a letter on the case docket describing the materials he wants to release in “enough detail to meaningfully inform victims” of what he plans to make public.
Maxwell was convicted by a federal jury of sex trafficking in 2021 for helping recruit some of Epstein’s underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Epstein, a millionaire money manager known for hobnobbing with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and the academic elite, killed himself in prison a month after his 2019 arrest.
Engelmayer had already informed the victims and Maxwell that they could respond next month to the Justice Department’s request to release the material, before he decided to turn it over.
The Justice Department said it was seeking court approval to release the material to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed into law last week by President Donald Trump. It calls for a grand jury and release of investigative materials in the case.
The request, along with a similar request for grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s case, was one of the first public signs that the Justice Department was trying to comply with the Transparency Act, which requires it to release Epstein-related files in a searchable format by December 19.
Engelmayer did not preside over the trial, but trial judge Alison J. Nathan was assigned to the case after he was promoted to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The material discovered, subject to confidentiality orders, is likely to include interviews with the victim and other materials previously seen only by lawyers or Maxwell before her trial.
Engelmayer said in an order Monday that Maxwell and victims of Maxwell and Epstein have until Dec. 3 to respond to the government’s request to declassify the materials. The government will have to respond to their filing by December 10. The judge said he would issue a ruling “shortly thereafter.”
Attorneys for the victims did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. A spokesman for federal prosecutors declined to comment.
Judge Richard M. Berman, who presided over the Epstein case before his death, issued an order Tuesday giving victims and Epstein’s estate until Dec. 3 to respond to the Justice Department’s request to unseal the case. He said that the government can respond to any argument by December 8.
Berman said he would “do my best to resolve this resolution promptly.”