By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press
The Justice Department says in support of its request to unseal grand jury transcripts of proceedings that led to the sex trafficking indictments of New York financier and sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell that they include the testimony of just two law enforcement witnesses.
In a filing late Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, officials describe the grand jury witnesses in a memorandum in response to a call from judges presiding over both cases to provide more details about their request earlier this month. Judges would have to approve any request to unseal records.
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.
The Epstein grand jury heard only from an FBI agent when it met in June and July of 2019, while the Maxwell grand jury heard from the same FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective when it met in June and July of 2020 and in March of 2021, according to the submission.
The memorandum was signed by Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and included the names of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The request to unseal the transcripts came after the Justice Department enraged parts of President Donald Trump’s base of supporters when it announced in early July it wouldn’t be making public any more Epstein files. The decision not to make additional materials public shocked some Trump supporters because members of his administration had hyped the expected release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected financier.
Epstein took his own life in a federal jail in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, officials say, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell’s links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including Trump.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her December 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges that accused her of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Last week, she sat for 1 1/2 days of interviews with Justice Department officials in Florida, answering questions “about 100 different people,” her attorney said. Maxwell was being interviewed because of Trump’s directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes, the deputy attorney general said.
Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he had cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration’s achievements. When reporters last week pressed the Republican president about possibly pardoning Maxwell, he deflected, emphasizing his administration’s successes.
After the request to unseal grand jury records, two former prosecutors in Manhattan told The Associated Press the transcripts would be relatively short and contain only the testimony of law enforcement witnesses talking about evidence that tracks information in the indictments.
In its filing Tuesday, the Justice Department further dampened expectations the grand jury transcripts would contain new revelations when it said “certain aspects and subject matters” contained in them became public during Maxwell’s trial.
The memorandum said many of the victims whose accounts relating to Epstein and Maxwell came up in grand jury testimony testified at trial consistent with what was described by the FBI agent and the NYPD detective and some information was made public through civil litigation.
The government said no Epstein or Maxwell family members have come forward to express an interest in the request to unseal the grand jury transcripts, although Maxwell has indicated she will file a position with the court.
The memorandum says the request to unseal the transcripts is “consistent with increasing calls for additional disclosures in this matter.”
“There is undoubtedly a clearly expressed interest from the public in Jeffrey Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes,” it says. “Beyond that, there is abundant public interest in the investigative work conducted by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into those crimes.”
Under a 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. That allowed him to avert a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work release program. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender.
Epstein was later charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan for nearly identical allegations in 2019.
