Trump administration asks for unsealing of grand jury testimony in Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell cases

The Trump administration asked a Manhattan federal judge Friday to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases against late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

The nearly identical motions stated that “intense public scrutiny” justified transparency in the sex trafficking cases — a swift reversal from a July 6 Justice Department memo that said no further disclosures were warranted.

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“Since July 6, 2025, there has been extensive public interest in the basis for the Memorandum’s conclusions. While the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to adhere to the conclusions reached in the Memorandum, transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in the court filings.

“Given the public interest in the investigative work conducted by the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation into Epstein, the Department of Justice moves the Court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts … subject to appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information.”

The release would come despite Maxwell seeking an appeal of her conviction and 20-year sentence on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Epstein, 66, died in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges after a prior 2008 guilty plea to a Florida state charge of procuring a child for prostitution. 

Multiple investigations have determined that Epstein committed suicide, but conspiracy theories about his case have persisted — including that other powerful men have eluded justice for their role in a trafficking ring that the Justice Department says victimized more than 1,000 women and girls.

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Epstein’s many powerful friends included former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Prince Andrew. He also was a social contact of President Trump, who says they had a falling out long before his legal problems.

The July 6 memo was greeted with skepticism from Republicans in Congress and by an array of influential pro-Trump activists and media personalities who demanded further information.

Trump tried to shoot down the rebellion among his allies at a Cabinet meeting July 8, declaring the Epstein saga old news, and then escalating the pressure in later comments claiming “weaklings” in his base were helping Democrats perpetuate a “hoax.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) were among those who nonetheless called for more disclosure.

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The filings propose that Justice Department staff in Washington work with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York on redactions — a process that may be difficult given that DOJ bosses canned one of the lead prosecutors on the Maxwell case, Maurene Comey, earlier this week without citing a reason.

“Transparency in this process will not be at the expense of our obligation under the law to protect victims,” the filings say.

The proposed disclosures would not be a complete airing of federal files in the case, but would cover transcripts of those who testified to the grand jury before they handed up indictments of Epstein and Maxwell. 

That process unfolds behind closed doors and is secret to protect the rights of the accused in the case that an indictment is never returned.

Snippets of grand jury testimony often come out at trial, with witnesses cross-examined about what they said. But since Epstein died before trial, any grand jury testimony in his case would be brand new to the public.

However, the filings are ultimately likely to reveal more information about both Epstein and Maxwell’s depraved schemes than information about any other people to whom they may have trafficked victims.