Federal judge rejects Trump’s request to unseal secret Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury documents amid Epstein drama

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York has said he won’t unseal grand jury testimony records in the Ghislaine Maxwell case.

On Friday, The Justice Department asked two New York judges to unseal the exhibits that are related to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.

The judge wrote that he would not release the records because they did not answer questions that remain from the public, relating to their crimes or Epstein’s death. 

The judge added that the records did not reveal any new or meaningful information about the pairs crimes, going against the government’s claims that they would.

 Engelmayer called it ‘demonstrably false’, adding that the push to release tehse documents could be a ‘diversion’ plan. 

This move is expanded from the administration’s earlier ask to make five days of grand jury testimony public.

The Trump administration has been pushing to release evidence related to the Epstein investigation, following the backlash they received from their MAGA base, after announcing in July that no additional information would be released.

Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to work on the release of the Epstein and Maxwell grand jury materials. 

This decision from the department serves as a major blow to both US Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Trump as they try to appease their MAGA base.

In July, the Justice Department said the Jeffrey Epstein list does not exist. The president promised he would release the Epstein files as part of his re-election campaign, saying Democrats are hiding the truth about the case. 

The American financier and child sex offender who victimized hundreds of girls died by suicide in Jail in 2019. Epstein’s associate Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for crimes related to sex trafficking in connection with Epstein.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.