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.
The Epstein grand jury heard from just one witness, an FBI agent, when it met in June and July 2019, the government disclosed. The Maxwell grand jury heard from the same FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective when it met in June and July 2020 and March 2021, according to the submission.
It isn’t unusual for law enforcement officials to be the only witnesses before grand juries, which have a limited role and don't need to decide whether a person is guilty of a crime.
The memorandum was signed by Jay Clayton, the interim 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.
Trump supporters want to see the evidence
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 investigative files related to Epstein, who was accused of paying underage girls for sexual acts.
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, 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 keeps being questioned about Epstein
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.
The court memorandum filed Tuesday said many of the victims whose accounts of being exploited by Epstein and Maxwell were discussed before the grand jury by the FBI agent and the NYPD detective later testified at Maxwell's public trial.
‘Increasing calls for additional disclosures’
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 nonprosecution 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.
