面对30天的最后期限，司法部要求纽约南区的两名法官授权公布大陪审团的笔录和杰弗里·爱普斯坦和吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦尔的起诉证据。
美国司法部长杰伊·克莱顿(Jay Clayton)签署了一项动议，要求监督爱泼斯坦和麦克斯韦尔案件的法官批准大陪审团材料的发布，但须进行必要的编辑。司法部长帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)任命克莱顿领导对与爱泼斯坦有关的知名民主党人进行调查。
“根据该法案的明确授权，法院应该授权司法部公布大陪审团的笔录和证据，并修改任何先前存在的保护令，否则这些保护令将阻止政府公开该法案要求披露的材料，”动议称爱泼斯坦文件透明法案最近由唐纳德·特朗普总统签署成为法律。
虽然该动议指出，法律允许对“会危及正在进行的联邦调查或正在进行的起诉”的材料进行编辑，但文件没有提到特朗普最近下令对比尔·克林顿、拉里·萨默斯和雷德·霍夫曼进行的调查。
司法部援引30天的最后期限，要求加快对该动议的裁决，并表示将“与美国相关检察官办公室合作，对与受害者相关的信息和其他个人身份信息进行适当的编辑。”
其中一名法官随后表示，计划在12月中旬发布一项决定，公布大陪审团与麦克斯韦尔有关的材料。
注意到司法部的动议“对受害者的权利保持沉默”，美国地区法官保罗·恩格尔迈尔(Paul Engelmayer)为麦克斯韦尔罪行的受害者设定了12月3日之前权衡的最后期限。他还命令麦克斯韦尔在同一天决定她是否反对释放。
司法部面临着12月10日之前做出回应的最后期限，之后Engelmayer表示他将做出决定。
司法部在8月份寻求批准公开大陪审团的记录，但没有成功，两位法官都认为政府没有证明公布这些材料的法律依据。在一项裁决中，美国地区法官理查德·伯曼(Richard Berman)严厉批评DOJ在政府已经掌握相关文件的情况下要求法院介入。
“大陪审团的即时动议似乎是从政府拥有的爱泼斯坦文件的广度和范围上‘转移’。他写道:“大陪审团的证词只是杰弗里·爱泼斯坦被指控行为的道听途说的一个片段。
“政府完整的信息宝库将更好地告知公众关于爱泼斯坦的情况，”他补充说。
DOJ asks judges to authorize release of Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material
Facing a 30-day deadline to release the Epstein files, the Department of Justice has asked two judges in the Southern District of New York to authorize the release of grand jury transcripts and exhibits from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton -- whom Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped to lead an investigation into prominent Democrats associated with Epstein -- signed a motion asking the judges who oversaw the Epstein and Maxwell cases to approve the release of the grand jury materials, subject to the necessary redactions.
"In the light of the Act's clear mandate, the Court should authorize the Department of Justice to release the grand jury transcripts and exhibits and modify any preexisting protective orders that would otherwise prevent public disclosure by the Government of materials the disclosure of which is required by the Act," the motions said, referring to theEpstein Files Transparency Act, recently signed into law by President Donald Trump.
While the motion noted that the law allows redactions to seal materials that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution," the filings did not mention the recently initiated investigation into Bill Clinton, Larry Summers and Reid Hoffman ordered by Trump.
Citing the 30-day deadline, the Department of Justice requested an expedited ruling on the motion and said it would "work with the relevant United States Attorney's Offices to make appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information."
One of the judges subsequently signaled plans to issue a decision about releasing the grand jury material related to Maxwell by mid-December.
Noting that the Department of Justice's motion was "silent as to the rights of victims," U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer set deadlines for the victims of Maxwell's crimes to weigh in by Dec. 3. He also ordered Maxwell to decide whether she'd object to the release by the same date.
The Department of Justice faces a deadline to respond by Dec. 10, after which Engelmayer said he would issue a decision.
The Department of Justice unsuccessfully sought approval to unseal the grand jury records in August, with both judges concluding that the government did not demonstrate a legal basis to release the materials. In one decision, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman sharply criticized the DOJ for asking the court to get involved when the government already had the relevant files in its possession.
"The instant grand jury motion appears to be a 'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government's possession. The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged conduct," he wrote.
"The Government's complete information trove would better inform the public about the Epstein case," he added.
