Epstein accomplice Maxwell says she opposes release of grand jury testimony

Convicted Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell formally objected to the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury testimony materials related to the investigation into the disgraced financier.

Maxwell's attorneys wrote on Tuesday that their client, who is serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring to abuse minors, was prevented by the judge in the case from being able to review the records and therefore "has no choice but to respectfully oppose the government's motion to unseal it."

"Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not," David Oscar Markus, her attorney, wrote in a court filing. "Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain."

Grand jury records are typically kept secret, but the Trump administration has moved to unseal them in a bid to quell public outcry, including among President Donald Trump's supporters, after the Justice Department declined to release government files on the investigation into Epstein.

The judge in the case gave Maxwell's legal team, as well as Epstein's victims, until Tuesday to weigh in on the unsealing of the grand jury testimony.

Case closed

Epstein was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019, and his death was ruled a suicide.

That finding was reiterated by the Justice Department and FBI last month when they said that their review of government files on Epstein found that he was not murdered, and that "there was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions."

"We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties," the agencies said, alluding to a long-speculated "client list."

The agencies said that Epstein harmed over 1,000 victims, and that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."

Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking and other crimes in 2021 after standing trial in federal court in New York. She is seeking to have the Supreme Court take up her case, and met twice last month for interviews with senior Justice Department official Todd Blanche.

Blanche has not publicly addressed what he discussed with Maxwell, but reports have indicated that the Justice Department is considering releasing the transcripts of the conversation.

Crushing pressure

Trump, 79, was once a close friend of Epstein, and The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the president's name was among hundreds found during a Justice Department review of the so-called "Epstein files," though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.

Trump filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the newspaper after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.

Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate convicted in connection with his activities, which right-wing conspiracy theorists allege included trafficking young girls for VIPs and other elites.

The Trump administration has faced massive backlash after it concluded that there was no client list and would not pursue further disclosures.

___

Source: TRT