US judge allows release of Epstein-related grand jury documents

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A gavel cracks down in a Judge Advocate court room on Oct. 11, 2018 at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Aspen Reid)

By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON  -  A U.S. judge on Tuesday granted a request by the Justice Department to make public grand jury documents in the case involving Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is in prison for sex trafficking.

In a written order, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said he would allow the unsealing of the documents because of a recent law passed by Congress, the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Engelmayer said he was putting in place a mechanism to protect victims from the inadvertent release of materials that would identify them or otherwise invade their privacy.

The order followed a similar one from a judge in Florida on Friday that allowed for the unsealing of documents in a case against Epstein.

The bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress required U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to release unclassified files related to its investigations of Epstein and Maxwell.

President Donald Trump had initially urged Republican lawmakers to oppose the measure, warning that releasing internal investigative records could set a precedent he viewed as harmful to the presidency, according to two congressional aides. But he reversed course after it became clear the bill had enough bipartisan support to pass with or without his backing.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson, and Jan Wolfe; editing by Scott Malone and Chizu Nomiyama // REUTERS)