Ghislaine Maxwell is warning that Congress's push to unseal long-secret Jeffrey Epstein records could damage her chances of ever getting a new trial, even as a Florida judge and the Justice Department move ahead under a new federal transparency law signed by President Donald Trump.
In a 3 December 2025 filing to U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in New York, Maxwell's lawyers said they would not formally oppose the broader release of Epstein-related materials but objected to grand jury records from her own case being made public. They argued that publishing what they called 'untested and unproven allegations' would create 'undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial' if Maxwell succeeds with a planned habeas corpus petition.
The dispute comes after Mr. Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act on 20 November 2025, requiring the Justice Department to release thousands of pages of civil and criminal investigative files tied to Epstein. The department has until 19 December 2025 to comply with the law's first disclosure deadline, according to people familiar with the process.
A Florida judge on 5 December 2025 ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the 2005 and 2007 Florida investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, reversing an earlier refusal in July 2025. The judge cited the new federal statute as grounds for overriding state secrecy rules, clearing the way for previously sealed testimony to become public for the first time. Victims' advocates have welcomed the decision, calling it a long-delayed step toward accountability.
Maxwell, now 63, is preparing to file her habeas petition pro se, after the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2025 rejected what her supporters had described as her last conventional appeal. She was arrested in 2020, convicted in 2021 of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein's abuse in the 1990s and early 2000s, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Her projected release date is 2037.
The British socialite was also ordered in 2022 to pay a £0.56 million (about $0.75 million) fine. Prosecutors at trial presented testimony from victims who described being recruited as young as 14, lured to Epstein's properties and subjected to escalating sexual demands. Witnesses told jurors about grooming routines, confiscated passports and a network of locations ranging from Manhattan to Palm Beach and the Caribbean.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, a death ruled a suicide. Recent releases pushed by U.S. lawmakers have included images from his private island, Little Saint James. Representative Robert Garcia said the material offered 'a harrowing look behind Epstein's closed doors' and argued the public had a right to see it.
Maxwell has simultaneously pursued a separate track: seeking a presidential commutation from Mr. Trump. According to reports from November 2025, she met in July 2025 with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, used the session to praise Mr. Trump and insisted she 'absolutely never' saw him behave improperly in Epstein's orbit. Her new filing does not mention that effort but stresses that, with Epstein dead, she is now the one whose due-process rights could be compromised by a document dump she cannot control.
On social media, legal and political commentators have challenged Maxwell's argument that the timing of the release is unfair. Tech reviewer @ZacksJerryRig posted on X: 'That was true until October 2025 when Ghislaine Maxwell's final appeal was rejected by the Supreme court, and her conviction for trafficking minors was officially upheld. Releasing the Epstein files now wont comprise anything about her conviction, trial, or court case.' Political analyst @NormanOrnstein added: 'What you are missing... is apparently any ability to Google something. There was active prosecution of Maxwell and there was a bar on releasing evidence during her appeals.'
For lawmakers who championed the Epstein Transparency Act, the key dates now look like this:
- 20 November 2025 - President Donald Trump signs the Epstein Transparency Act.
- 3 December 2025 - Maxwell files her latest motion in Judge Engelmayer's court.
- 5 December 2025 - A Florida judge orders Epstein and Maxwell grand jury transcripts released.
- 19 December 2025 - Justice Department's first deadline to release Epstein-related documents.
