Judge denies release of Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts | LiveNOW from FOX

A judge on Monday denied a request to unseal transcripts from the grand jury that indicted Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell’s case has been the subject of heightened public focus since an outcry over the Justice Department’s statement last month saying that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation.

Federal prosecutors had asked to unseal the secret grand jury testimony, in an effort to calm suspicions about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who died behind bars while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Maxwell, his socialite ex-girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said Monday in a written ruling that the government had suggested that the materials could be released publicly "casually or promiscuously," which would risk "unraveling the foundations of secrecy upon which the grand jury is premised" and eroding confidence by persons called to testify before future grand juries.

Prosecutors have said much of what was discussed behind the grand jury’s closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell’s 2021 trial in 2021, in victims’ civil lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses. The only grand jury witnesses were law enforcement officers.

The Washington Examiner's Kaelan Deese joins LiveNOW's Andrew Craft to discuss.

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