
Jeffrey Epstein may have died in 2019, but his partner Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison for her role in some of his schemes. She was convicted of conspiring to sexually abuse minors in 2021, but has appealed.
There is now concern that releasing some of the details of the Epstein files could risk the government's case against Maxwell in the appeal.
National security analyst and researcher Marcy Wheeler noted that in Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche's Friday request to release the grand jury transcripts, he "waves away the concern that unsealing these files should wait until Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal has been exhausted."
"While the Government recognizes that Maxwell’s case is currently pending before the Supreme Court on a petition for a writ of certiorari, it nonetheless moves this Court for relief due to the intense public scrutiny into this matter," Blanche wrote in the request.
Wheeler recalled a 2024 Freedom of Information Act request from Politico reporter Josh Gerstein, which was met with a lengthy description of "the risks posed by releasing files before Maxwell’s appeals are exhausted," she said.
One of the details from prosecutor Maurene Comey is that if the appeal is granted for Maxwell, a new trial could be held.
"Therefore public disclosure of the FBI's records relating to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein that were withheld in full or in part under Exemption 7(A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with the pending prosecution of Maxwell," she wrote in response to the FOIA request.
Comey was fired from the DOJ on Wednesday of last week after serving for 10 years. No reason was given.
Wheeler noted, "And the grand jury request is not only completely unnecessary, but it represents a colossal waste of the time that Pam Bondi already invested when she ordered up to 1,000 people to review the FBI case files in March."
Wheeler said that Bondi could release those documents without a judge. "But she's not."
The grand jury records are only a small subset of the over 1 million pages around the ongoing Epstein investigations. But even those smaller collections of documents that Bondi wants to release "could do more damage if Maxwell wins a retrial," said Wheeler.
Legally, Trump could pardon Maxwell, but as Wheeler notes, "his mob would go nuts."