Ghislaine Maxwell Fires Back After Trump Demands Release of Secret Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts
Ghislaine Maxwell Fires Back After Trump Demands Release of Secret Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts
Ghislaine Maxwell is opposing President Donald Trump’s push to unseal secret grand jury testimony from her case, telling a federal court she has not seen the material and cannot take an informed position.
The longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate, serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking minors, filed the objection through her attorneys in the Southern District of New York. “Ghislaine Maxwell has not seen the material and cannot take an informed position,” her lawyers wrote, adding that because she does not know what is in the record, “she has no choice but to respectfully oppose the government’s motion to unseal it.”
Trump last month directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts from the Southern District of New York and the Southern District of Florida, where Epstein and Maxwell’s cases were prosecuted. A Florida judge swiftly denied the request, while the SDNY court has asked the government to provide more justification for making the highly secretive material public.
Maxwell’s lawyers noted the government did not oppose her reviewing the grand jury transcripts to decide whether to object to their release. However, they said she has not been given access. Grand jury testimony is among the most protected court records in the United States. It is rarely unsealed, particularly years after a case concludes, due to rules designed to safeguard witness privacy and investigative integrity.
The filing comes as Maxwell seeks to overturn her 2022 conviction and sentence. Her attorneys have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, arguing she should not have been charged because she was allegedly covered under Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida.
Maxwell is also cooperating with the Department of Justice. Last month, she met for two days with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in Tallahassee, Florida, speaking for more than nine hours and naming about 100 people connected to Epstein. Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said she answered every question posed to her.
Just days after the meetings, Maxwell was transferred from the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee to the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. The Bureau of Prisons has not commented on the reason for the move.
Her cooperation with prosecutors has fueled speculation that her defense team may seek a presidential pardon. No formal pardon request has been confirmed, but Markus has said Maxwell is pursuing all available legal avenues.
The Southern District of New York previously denied Maxwell’s request to review the grand jury material before deciding whether to object to unsealing. In their latest filing, her attorneys argued that releasing partial grand jury testimony without her knowledge of its contents could prejudice her ongoing appeals.
Legal experts say the courts are unlikely to release the transcripts. Former federal prosecutors familiar with Epstein’s case have said grand jury materials are often minimal, sometimes only 60 to 200 pages, and typically contain agent summaries rather than extensive testimony. They also warn that unsealing could compromise the victim’s privacy.
This comes as many suspect Maxwell will be pardoned by Trump, which will lead to uproar from both sides of the political aisle. |
