NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Manhattan is asking for more information from the Justice Department as it weighs its request to unseal records from the sex-trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to tell him what materials it plans to release publicly that were subject to secrecy orders in the British society case.
Deadline: Wednesday noon.
Engelmayer’s order came after the Justice Department on Monday sought his permission to release grand jury records, exhibits and discovery materials in the Maxwell case.
Engelmayer said government lawyers must file a letter on the case file describing the materials he wants to release “in sufficient detail to meaningfully inform the victims” what he plans to make public.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury of sex trafficking for helping to recruit some of Epstein’s underage victims. She is serving a sentence of 20 years in prison.
Epstein, a millionaire money manager known for socializing with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and the academic elite, killed himself in prison a month after his arrest in 2019.
Engelmayer had already notified the victims and Maxwell that they could respond next month to the Justice Department’s request to release materials before deciding whether to release them.
The Justice Department said it was seeking court approval to release materials to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law last week by President Donald Trump. He calls for the release of the grand jury and discovery materials in the case.
The request, along with one identical to the grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s case, was among the first public indications 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 Dec. 19.
Engelmayer did not preside over the trial, but was assigned to the case after the trial judge, Alison J. Nathan, was elevated to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States.
Discovery materials subject to secrecy orders are likely to include victim interviews and other materials previously seen only by attorneys or Maxwell before her trial.
Engelmayer said in an order on Monday that Maxwell and the victims of Maxwell and Epstein have until December 3 to respond to the government’s request to make the materials public. The government must respond to their files by December 10. The judge said he would decide “promptly 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 on Tuesday that allows Epstein’s victims and estate to respond to the Justice Department’s unsealing request until Dec. 3. He said that the government can respond to any submission until December 8.
Berman said he would make his “best efforts to resolve this motion promptly.”