A stunned Manhattan courtroom echoed with the thunder of a federal judge’s gavel on December 9, 2025, as U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ordered the unsealing of grand jury materials from Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex-trafficking case, directly invoking President Trump’s newly signed Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The ruling granted the Department of Justice’s motion to release transcripts, exhibits, and investigative records from Maxwell’s prosecution—materials long shielded by federal grand jury secrecy rules. Engelmayer ruled that the bipartisan Transparency Act, signed by Trump last month after intense congressional pressure, unambiguously overrides those protections for unclassified Epstein- and Maxwell-related files.
This decision followed similar orders: a Florida judge unsealed 2000s Epstein grand jury transcripts days earlier, while a separate New York ruling on Epstein’s 2019 case was pending. The DOJ now faces a December 19 deadline to publish all pertinent records in searchable format, though delays and additional discoveries of over a million pages have sparked accusations of foot-dragging.
Engelmayer sharply criticized the DOJ for failing to notify victims before seeking unsealing, noting it showed insufficient “solicitude” despite lip service to survivors. He cautioned that the Maxwell materials—largely mirroring her public trial—may reveal little new information beyond known evidence of her role in recruiting minors for Epstein.
Maxwell, serving 20 years and maintaining innocence, took no position on the release. Victims’ advocates hailed it as a “victory for accountability,” amid broader demands for full disclosure of elite connections.
While Trump campaigned on exposing Epstein ties and signed the act, critics argue ongoing redactions and delays undermine his transparency pledges, fueling partisan debates as more files loom.
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