The Justice Department asked two New York judges Friday to unseal grand jury exhibits related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, an expansion of its earlier ask to make five days of grand jury testimony public.
The moves by Attorney General Pam Bondi to unseal grand jury evidence represent the Trump administration’s supposed push to release the so-called “Epstein files,” the subject of much fixation among the president’s base as well as Democrats looking for a pressure point in the MAGA coalition.
However, the administration has faced roadblocks in its bid, even as observers have said that grand jury evidence might not produce much new information.
In July, a judge in Florida declined to unseal transcripts related to a criminal case brought against Epstein for sex charges in the early 2000s. That case was resolved in a controversial plea deal that saw the billionaire financier serve about a year in prison.
The Justice Department’s latest request concerns Epstein’s 2019 criminal case in New York, which was dropped after the convicted sex offender was found dead in his cell. It also asks to unseal grand jury exhibits in the case of Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking in 2021.
Grand jury evidence is generally kept secret. In a court filing earlier this week, Maxwell opposed a separate DOJ effort to unseal grand jury testimony, saying it would compromise her privacy and her prospects to appeal her case.
Lawyers for several of Epstein’s alleged victims have submitted letters to the judges expressing mixed feelings about releasing grand jury evidence, many citing concerns about privacy.
In their Friday request to release grand jury exhibits, Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said they would submit sealed filings detailing which portions of the exhibits had already been made public.
