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A judge is set to rule on federal prosecutors’ desperate bid to block the release of the FBI’s top-secret files on the late sex trafficking mastermind Jeffrey Epstein — amid a possible retrial for his madam Ghislaine Maxwell.
But in a letter to Paul G. Gardephe, a district court judge in the Southern District of New York who will decide whether the documents should be released, the lawyer fighting for their disclosure lambasted the FBI over its clandestineness.
“The FBI has resisted transparency every step of the way, baselessly withholding thousands of pages of material for years out of stated deference to Epstein,” Daniel Novack, the lawyer for the website RadarOnline.com, wrote in the July 18 letter obtained by Knewz.com.
“The pretext offered: disclosing details of the FBI’s investigation of Epstein for child sex trafficking would inflict a ‘clearly unwarranted invasion’ of his personal privacy. Twenty-one productions cited this justification. None cited any pending of any law enforcement investigation as a basis to withhold records.”
In April 2017, RadarOnline.com sued the FBI for its full file on Epstein, who committed suicide in his jail cell while awaiting his trial for charges of sex trafficking minors and conspiracy.
It was Epstein’s sweetheart treatment by federal law enforcement that prompted their FOIA request, it said.
The agency has ever since refused to release the records of the notorious former friend of presidents Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, billionaire Bill Gates and other famous identities.
“After years of public outcry, the Southern District of New York indicted Epstein in July 2019,” added Novack.
“It was only then that the FBI began citing the law enforcement investigation exemption. Epstein died in August 2019. The FBI continued applying the law enforcement exemption for the remainder of their production schedule.”
In July 2020, Maxwell was arrested for crimes related to Epstein. In December 2021, she was found guilty on five of six charged counts and later sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Seven months later, the British socialite appealed the conviction.
In the months prior to the conviction, the FBI refused to release the Epstein material, saying it would “negatively impact the pending prosecution of Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.”
On July 5, judge Gardephe directed the FBI and RadarOnline.com to file briefs addressing the effect of the conviction of Maxwell and the pending appeal of that conviction on the parties’ summary judgment motions.
As Knewz.com exclusively reported, the FBI claimed the undisclosed files could affect a jury appeal by Maxwell and asked for a “categorical withholding” of the FBI’s top-secret files.
Maurene Comey, the lead prosecutor in Maxwell’s case and the daughter of former FBI boss James Comey, revealed the FBI’s unreleased files cover matters that “go far beyond the issues covered during the first trial."
She said that the “premature release of the records would risk unduly influencing potential jurors for a retrial”.
“The first trial focused primarily on the abuse of six victims, and many exhibits were received under seal to protect the privacy of those victims and other third parties,” wrote Comey.
Comey added: “The withheld records include statements from and evidence regarding many more victims of Epstein and numerous witnesses who were not called or referenced during the first trial, including some who the Government may elect to call and/or reference if this case were to be retried.”
In response, Novack pleaded with judge Gardephe: “What records has Ghislaine Maxwell not already seen? What potential jury member (or witness) could possibly be affected by the release of the requested records at this point?”
Speaking exclusively to Knewz.com, Novack suggested the FBI had a hidden motive to maintain the files from public view.
“The Department of Justice protected Jeffrey Epstein's secrets during his life and continues to protect his — and their own — after his death,” he said.
“When Radar first requested these files six years ago, the FBI insisted that Epstein's privacy outweighs the public's right to know. They have since abandoned that embarrassing rationale yet still refuse to turn the documents over.
“I'm proud to represent Radar in their quest for transparency.”
The FBI has been at the center of cover-up claims regarding its involvement with Epstein.
In 2005, Epstein became the subject of an undercover sex trafficking investigation by Palm Beach, Florida police and the FBI.
Dozens of underage women were trafficked by Epstein to perform sexual acts on him as well as his friends.
Despite that, Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to a single count of soliciting prostitution from a minor under Florida state law and serve only 13 months in prison.
He would later die during the RadarOnline-FBI legal battle while in his Manhattan holding cell in 2019, where he was awaiting trial for several sex-trafficking charges.
RadarOnline.com has been attempting to get its hands on the contents of the FBI files ever since.
Much of that evidence has never been released nor has details about Epstein’s role as an FBI informant, as was first detailed in this exclusive Knewz.com report.
In a 2019 search of Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, FBI agents seized a shelf full of black binders which included CDs filled with photos, a passport from a foreign country with a picture of Epstein under another name, and other documents.
They also sawed open a safe and found diamonds, jewelry, CDs, and hard drives inside.
Judge Gardephe is expected to hand down his decision soon.