On Monday, a federal judge blocked the release of grand jury documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwellaccusing the White House of attempting to distract from the Epstein files scandal.
President Donald Trump and his administration sought the release of grand jury documents relating to Maxwell’s indictment on child sex trafficking charges after getting hammered by MAGA loyalists for trying to cover up information related to Epstein.
Seeking the grand jury document release was an obvious attempt to appease the MAGA base—which has been angry that the Trump administration is refusing to release the Epstein files. But at the same time, it’s careful to not include any information that incriminates Trump, who is reportedly mentioned multiple times in the Epstein files.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in his ruling that the grand jury documents the White House wanted released are merely “garden-variety summary testimony by two law enforcement agents.”
Here’s more from Engelmayer’s ruling:
The materials do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor. They do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s. They do not reveal any heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes. They do not reveal new venues at which their crimes occurred. They do not reveal new sources of their wealth. They do not explore the circumstances of Epstein’s death. They do not reveal the path of the Government’s investigation. Insofar as the motion to unseal implies that the grand jury materials are an untapped mine lode of undisclosed information about Epstein or Maxwell or confederates, they definitively are not that.
Engelmayer went on to say that people who believed that the grand jury documents would reveal new information “would come away feeling disappointed and misled,” and that the only argument he could see for releasing the documents is to expose the government for trying to mislead the public.
The one colorable argument under that doctrine for unsealing in this case, in fact, is that doing so would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal. A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at “transparency” but at diversion—aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.
Ouch.
Ultimately, the Epstein saga has been plaguing Trump for weekswith polling showing that the public thinks his administration is hiding evidence by not releasing the files on Epstein, who died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
A group of high-level Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vancemet last week to discuss how to distract the public from the growing scandal. The meeting was supposed to be held at Vance’s residence but was moved at the last minute to the White House after it became public.
“They discussed a number of topics, including the Jeffrey Epstein case and potential next steps,” a source told CNN.
It’s unclear what the Trump administration ultimately decided to do about the Epstein scandal. But given the fact that Trump announced Monday that he’s sending the National Guard to police Washington, D.C., it seems that could be the plan conjured up to distract the public.
“Epstein is the BIGGEST political scandal in my lifetime. The president of the United States is connected to the most notorious child-sex-trafficker ever AND is covering up his own involvement,” Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California wrote on X. “Tell me what’s bigger than THAT?”
