A New York federal judge on Tuesday ordered the unsealing of grand jury materials related to the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite convicted of acting as the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's procurer.
Judge Paul Engelmayer's order in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan came at the request of the Department of Justice, which cited the recently passed Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Grand jury materials normally are permanently sealed.
Engelmayer, in his order, wrote, "The Act does not explicitly refer to grand jury materials. The Court nonetheless holds â again in agreement with DOJ â that the Act textually covers the grand jury materials in this case."
Englemayer authorized the disclosure of grand jury transcripts and exhibits, as well as extensive material that federal prosecutors disclosed to Maxwell's defense attorneys for her 2021 criminal trial.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term for her conviction for procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Congress last month overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, mandating the disclosure of material held by the DOJ in connection with its investigations of Epstein.
Epstein, who was a former friend of President Donald Trump, committed suicide in a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019, weeks after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.
This is developing news. Please refresh for updates.
