Judge orders release of Jeffrey Epstein records in response to Miami Herald litigation
A federal judge in New York on Thursday ordered the unsealing of key documents from a settled civil lawsuit involving Ghislaine Maxwell and victims alleging sex abuse and trafficking by the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Senior District Judge Loretta Preska ruled from the bench in a telephonic hearing that the public interest in the matter outweighed Maxwell’s claims that the documents, including depositions of central players in the Epstein saga, would prove embarrassing or interfere with ongoing legal matters.
Maxwell’s opposition to the push for unsealing, mounted by social media personality Mike Cernovich and the Miami Herald as it prepared to publish a series of articles on Epstein titled Perversion of Justice, had long preceded her arrest on July 2 at a secluded New Hampshire mansion on allegations that she helped shepherd women and underage girls to Epstein for sexual abuse. She has pleaded innocent but was denied bail in a July 14 hearing.
The 2015 civil lawsuit was brought by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges Epstein abused her when she was 17 and that Maxwell recruited her when Giuffre was a spa assistant at Palm Beach’s Mar-a-Lago, owned by now-President Donald Trump.
“As a result of the Court’s decision, at least a dozen documents, including both Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition transcript, will be unsealed. The decision also lays the foundation for hundreds more to be released,” said Christine N. Walz, an attorney with Holland & Knight who represented the Herald.
Preska’s ruling affects J. Doe 1 and J. Doe 2, non-parties who petitioned the court and whose identities will now be revealed. There has been speculation as to their identities, and Thursday added fuel to the fire because it did not say whether these were Jane Doe or John Doe petitions.
“Neither J. Doe 1 or J. Doe 2 objected to the release of the documents. A similar process will be used for the remaining docket entries,” Walz noted, adding that ”the unsealing process can likely be expedited for the other non-parties.”
The judge promised to forge a process for the unsealing of documents pertaining to numerous other “Does,” and that suggests a steady flow of new revelations about the world of Epstein and his longtime associate Maxwell in the months ahead.
The documents ordered unsealed by Preska are from the process of discovery, where lawyers from each side can ask detailed questions of each other’s witnesses ahead of a trial. Specifically, they were motions already decided on by a judge who first heard the civil lawsuit from Epstein victims against Maxwell.
Lawyers for Maxwell had argued that unsealing the documents could prejudice witnesses or victims in other outstanding cases.
Through her publicist, Giuffre said she had no immediate comment. Maxwell’s lawyers also did not respond to requests for comment about Preska’s ruling.
Preska said the presumption of public access to these documents “far outweighed” any rights to avoid embarrassment or annoyance claimed by Maxwell. She ordered the relevant documents readied for unsealing within a week, but gave Maxwell’s lawyers a week to file an appeal. If that doesn’t happen, the documents would begin hitting the docket next Thursday.
The New York judge had ruled against the Miami Herald in February in its effort to have her reconsider an earlier decision against unsealing documents from pretrial motions that were never heard by the original judge who heard the case. But on Thursday, Preska made it clear she intends to unseal numerous documents from motions already heard, in a victory for the Herald’s legal battle.
Aminda Marqués González, president, publisher and executive editor of the Miami Herald, said, “The Miami Herald’s tenacity in pursuit of the truth for the public is another example of the important role of local journalists. This is an expensive pursuit but it is vital.”
The prosecution of Maxwell, 58, in the Southern District of New York is being closely watched since the alleged madam rubbed shoulders with Hollywood A-listers, Britain’s Prince Andrew and famous politicians, including Bill Clinton and Trump.
Trump made headlines this week by using a coronavirus news conference to say he wished Maxwell well in her legal troubles.
Giuffre has said Maxwell recruited her for Epstein and that she was directed to have sex with numerous prominent men. That includes famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, who has consistently denied the accusation.
Dershowitz praised Preska’s decision and said he wants all of the documents to be released to establish his truthfulness.
“I’m thrilled that all the documents come out, because I have nothing to hide,” Dershowitz said. “I want everything to come out.”
Dershowitz represented Epstein on legal matters and was also a friend of the multimillionaire. He and Giuffre are suing each other for defamation.
The arguments made by Maxwell’s team against unsealing documents in the decision Thursday mirrored a request Tuesday by her legal team in the criminal case for an effective gag order preventing any statements to the press from federal prosecutors and lawyers representing witnesses in the case.
Even Maxwell’s arrest in an early morning raid of the New Hampshire estate where she had been holed up, they argued, was designed to attract media attention, They noted in a filing that “plain vanilla surrenders lack the fanfare and attendant media coverage afforded to secret, armed raids at dawn.”
U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan denied Maxwell’s gag order request.
Maxwell is also involved in ongoing litigation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the late Epstein’s estate is being settled. Earlier this year she made a claim against the estate, arguing it should cover her legal expenses and the cost of security in hiding places. Epstein had paid this, she argued, up until the time of his death in a Manhattan jail cell last Aug. 10. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Epstein’s mansions in New York and Palm Beach are now on the market, listed at $88 million and $22 million, respectively.
