Ghislaine Maxwell opposes release of Epstein grand jury transcripts
Trump is seeking the release of the materials in a bid to quell Maga discontent over his administration’s handling of the Epstein cases
Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein who was convicted in 2021 of helping him sexually abuse teenage girls, said on Tuesday she opposed the US government’s bid to release transcripts of proceedings before the grand jury that indicted her.
In a court filing, Maxwell’s lawyers said the release of the materials would jeopardise a potential re-trial if she succeeds in persuading the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.
“The reputational harm from releasing incomplete, potentially misleading grand jury testimony, untested by cross-examination, would be severe and irrevocable,” her lawyers wrote.
US President Donald Trump last month instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of the Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material, as he sought to quell discontent from his base of conservative supporters and congressional Democrats over his administration’s handling of documents from the cases.
Trump, a Republican, had promised to make public Epstein-related files if reelected and accused Democrats of covering up the truth. But in July, the US Justice Department said a previously touted Epstein client list did not exist, angering Trump’s supporters.
Grand juries meet in secret to guard against interference in criminal investigations, and records of their proceedings cannot be disclosed without a judge’s permission.