Epstein and Maxwell grand juries did not hear directly from victims, prosecutors tell judges

The federal grand juries that indicted Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges did not hear directly from any of the alleged victims in the case, Justice Department officials said in support of their request to unseal transcripts of the usually secret proceedings. Just two witnesses testified before the panel and both were law enforcement officials, the officials said.

In a court filing late Tuesday, the officials again urged the court to release the records, citing huge public interest, but they also sought to assure the judges that making them public wouldn’t harm victims of the couple’s crimes.

While the memo didn’t detail what was in the grand jury testimony, it dampened expectations that the transcripts would contain new revelations, saying that “certain aspects and subject matters” contained in them became public during Maxwell’s trial in 2021 and that other details have been made public through many years of civil lawsuits filed by victims.

The Justice Department described the grand jury witnesses in response to questions from two judges who would have to approve the release of the transcripts. Grand jury transcripts are rarely released by courts, unless they need to be disclosed in connection with a judicial proceeding. The papers filed Tuesday cite a 1997 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said judges have wide discretion and public interest alone can justify releasing grand jury information.

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-grand-jury-transcripts-trump-d7b6be64eb7cf79de765d7870069e780