The White House has blasted a Democrat-aligned federal judge’s decision to keep grand jury records sealed in the child trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the ruling “unfortunate.”
As Slay News reported, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer on Monday denied a Justice Department motion to release the materials.
The Barack Obama-appointed activist judge ruled that they did not contain “significant, undisclosed information” about Maxwell’s crimes or the investigation.
The move blocks the public from seeing potentially explosive evidence that prosecutors admitted could contain additional names.
In a 31-page opinion, Judge Engelmayer dismissed the DOJ’s motion.
The activist judge claims there’s nothing for the public to see in the sealed records about the crimes or the investigation.
Engelmayer said the grand juries in question weren’t even used for investigative purposes and heard no testimony from victims, eyewitnesses, or suspects; only from law enforcement officials.
The panels met for just one day each, serving the “quotidian purpose” of issuing indictments.
The judge acknowledged that “with only very minor exceptions,” the evidence shown to the grand juries is already part of the public record.
“We think that decision is unfortunate,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
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