U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled Tuesday that a group of previously sealed documents related to government investigations of Jeffrey Epstein can be made public under the 2025 Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Preska granted the Justice Department’s request for disclosure and rejected arguments by Ghislaine Maxwell that the materials should remain under seal. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of participating in Epstein’s sex crimes.
The judge held that the Transparency Act takes precedence over earlier protective orders in the case, grand jury secrecy rules, and Maxwell’s privacy claims. The documents originated in Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 civil lawsuit against Maxwell, which was settled in 2017, and were later obtained by the government through a grand jury subpoena from the law firm that represented Giuffre.
Preska found a compelling need for release, stating that keeping the records secret would leave the public with an incomplete picture of the activities. Victim-protecting redactions required by the Act still apply. It remains unclear what new information the additional material will contain.
