Judge rules Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury records can be unsealed

A federal judge in New York has ruled the US Department of Justice can publicly release grand jury materials from Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking investigation.

US District Judge Paul Engelmayer said he was ordering the release of material because of a recent law passed by Congress, which requires the justice department to publish files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein by the end of next week.

In his ruling, he said the court would put in place mechanisms to protect victims from the release of materials that would "identify them or otherwise invade their privacy".

Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in luring underage girls for Epstein, her former boyfriend, to exploit. Epstein died in prison in 2019.

It followed a similar ruling from a judge in Florida on Friday, which allowed for the unsealing of documents related to the state's investigation against Epstein that began in 2005.

The rulings come after the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which US President Donald Trump signed into law in November after previously rejecting calls to release the files.

The law "applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" that relate to Epstein and Maxwell, a court order said.

The justice department has until 19 December to publicly release all the information from federal investigations into Epstein, though the law also allows the department to withhold files that involve active criminal investigations or raise privacy concerns.

Florida and New York judges had previously refused to unseal grand jury materials related to Epstein, citing federal rules that require grand jury processes to be secret.

But after Congress passed the bill to release the Epstein, the justice department made the same request, arguing the legislation's "clear mandate" should override these secrecy rules.