DOJ backs broader release of Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material - but there's a catch

Source: USA Today

Updated Aug. 8, 2025, 5:36 p.m. ET


The Justice Department has broadened its request for grand jury materials tied to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, but it still wants to shield "personal identifying information," which could mean protecting anyone else from being tied to the convicted sex offenders.

The department wants a court to unseal not just the transcripts that will show not only the testimony of two law enforcement witnesses before grand juries that indicted Epstein and Maxwell, but also the exhibits that were part of those proceedings. Court exhibits are items of evidence, such as photos, videos, or documents.

The department made its position clear in an Aug. 8 filing to a Manhattan federal court, which is considering whether to release sealed materials from the grand jury process that led to federal indictments against Epstein and Maxwell from 2019 to 2020. While the department is going farther than it did in its previous effort to release just the grand jury transcripts, this new request appears to fall short of what at least some victims want.

"Any effort to redact third party names smacks of a cover up," victim Annie Farmer said through her lawyer in an Aug. 5 letter to the court. Farmer testified for the prosecution in Maxwell's 2021 criminal trial.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/08/justice-department-epstein-files-maxwell-grand-jury/85546245007/