Justice Department asks judge for permission to release records from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell investigations
By Kara Scannell, CNN
(CNN) — The Justice Department asked a judge for permission Wednesday to publicly release financial records, travel documents, and notes of victim interviews obtained during the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to comply with a new law.
In a letter to the judge overseeing the Maxwell case, prosecutors asked the judge to lift a protective order that previously prevented the public dissemination of evidence turned over to Maxwell ahead of her trial.
Evidence and material covered by the protective order include search warrants, financial records, travel records, flight lists, government records, including police reports, arrest reports, booking photos, depositions from civil investigations, materials from Epstein’s estate, and reports and notes of interviews with third parties, including victims, they said.
The Justice Department asked the judges overseeing the Maxwell and Epstein cases to rule quickly on the request to release grand jury transcripts of law enforcement officers and the evidence covered by the protective order so they can comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They said they would redact any personally identifying information of victims in any release.
Prosecutors say they have heard from lawyers for numerous survivors of Epstein and Maxwell who raised concerns adding they are “simultaneously investigating counsel’s claims regarding the provenance and nature of documents provided to and ultimately released by Congress.”
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking charges after a four-week trial in December 2021.
It is unclear how much new material will be included in the files when they are ultimately released, since some evidence came out during Maxwell’s trial and Congress has released a trove of records in recent weeks.
Four women testified during the trial stating that Maxwell recruited them when they were underaged girls to give Epstein massages, which turned into sexual assault.
During the trial, the jurors heard from former employees of Epstein, including his longtime pilot, and saw photographs and videos taken of searches of Epstein’s properties. A memo pad of phone messages left at Epstein’s Palm Beach property was also entered into evidence, as were flight logs, and financial transactions involving Maxwell.
A green folding massage table from Epstein’s Florida estate was also brought into the courtroom.
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