SECOND COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS (TODAY IT’S EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION FILES, YESTERDAY IT WAS MAXWELL INVESTIGATION FILES) – Full Order Included in Post
Today the Federal court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) issued an order directing the DOJ to release the investigation and grand jury files related to the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein. Note that there was a similar order yesterday which I covered – that order yesterday was regarding releasing investigation and grand jury records related to the investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell (which you will recall was not contested / actually was contested in a letter to the Court from Maxwell, saying that she didn’t contest the release of those records, but she wanted the Court to know that it would prejudice her upcoming motion for Habeas Corpus).
In any event, I’m taking the unusual step of including the entire text of the court order right here in the article, because it’s only 4 pages long, and I thought people who don’t get the source documents through Notes from the Front membership might like to see what these look like.
(NOTE: Forgive me if I point out that I paid for the PDF-to-text service in order to be able to post the text of this order, just like I pay for the transcripts of hearings and other non-free documents out of my own pocket, in order to make them available to you. And that’s not even taking into account the hours I spend cleaning them up, making them accessible, and writing them up so that people understand what they are looking at. So to the people who slam me for charging a paltry $5 a month for all that, perhaps you don’t realize how much work and how much of my own money goes into it.)
Here’s the full order; Notes from the Front members, the PDF is also included for you (it’s in your inbox now), as I know some of y’all are saving every file. (To protect myself from legal claims of impermissible public republication, and attacks by trolls, among other things, I don’t share documents I find publicly, I make them available privately to Notes from the Front members. You can join here for immediate access to all of the documents, our private chat, etc.. – it’s $5 a month and it’s fine to join and then cancel if you only want certain documents: https://annepmitchell.substack.com/p/second-court-orders-release-of-epstein )
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
-against-
JEFFREY EPSTEfN,
Defendant.
DECISION & ORDER
The recently enacted “Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Pub. L. No. 119-38, 139 Stat. 656 (2025) (the “Act”), compels the U.S. Department of Justice (”Government”) to make public by December 19, 2025 certain evidentiary files. The files in question (”Epstein files”) are the subject of the instant motion which was submitted to the Court by the Government on November 24, 2025. See Gov’t Mot., dated Nov. 24, 2025 (ECF No. 85). In fulfilling its obligations to bring the Epstein files to the public quickly, the Government is also required to protect all Jeffrey Epstein “victims” by excluding (redacting) “personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Epstein Files Transparency Act § 2(c)(1)(A).1
The Court hereby grants the Government’s motion in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and with the unequivocal right of Epstein victims to have their identity and privacy protected. See also court rulings in United States v. Maxwell
I LEGAL STANDARD
“[W]hen the statute’s language is plain, the sole function of the courts—at least where the disposition required by the text is not absurd—is to enforce it according to its terms.” Lamie v. U.S. Tr., 540 U.S. 526, 534 (2004) (collecting cases). The Epstein Files Transparency Act states that: “Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, subject to subsection (b), make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices, that relate to .. Jeffrey Epstein including all investigations, prosecutions, or custodial matters.” Epstein Files Transparency Act § 2(a)(1) (emphasis added).
II DISCUSSION
The “plain language” of the Epstein Files Transparency Act unequivocally intends to make public Epstein grand jury materials and discovery materials covered by the Epstein Protective Order, dated July 25, 2019 (ECF No. 38). See id. The Act also safeguards Epstein victims’ identities and privacy by requiring the Attorney General to “withhold or redact . . personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Epstein Files Transparency Act § 2(c)(1)(A). The Government has committed to making “appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information” expeditiously. Gov’t Mot. at 8; see also Gov’t Letter, dated Dec. 1, 2025, at 2 (ECF No. 88). In fact, the Act states that the Epstein files material must be made public “[njot later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.” Epstein Files Transparency Act § 2(a) (emphasis added).
A. Grand Jury Materials
The Act requires disclosure of Epstein grand jury materials by requiring disclosure of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials.” Id. “All” is crystal clear and should be afforded its “ordinary, common-sense meaning.” Eisenhauer v. Culinary Inst. of Am., 84 F.4th 507, 517 (2d Cir. 2023) (citing United States v. Dauray, 215 F.3d 257, 260 (2d Cir. 2000)). Section 2(a) clearly includes the unsealing of the Epstein grand jury materials. See Ruiz-Ahnanzor v. Ridge, 485 F.3d 193, 197 (2d Cir. 2007) (where Congress was aware of a category and did not exclude the category from the statute, that category is covered). The Act supersedes the otherwise secret grand jury materials under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e). See United States v. Mohammed, 27 F.3d 815, 820 (2d Cir. 1994).
B. Protective Order Materials
The clear language of the Act requires the Attorney General to make publicly available the discovery materials included in the Protective Order, dated July 25, 2019 (ECF No. 38). The Act requires disclosure of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice” related to Epstein, including materials otherwise subject to the July 25, 2019 Protective Order. Epstein Files Transparency Act § 2(a).
C. Victim Rights
Epstein victims’ attorneys have written to the Court, and the Court agrees, that disclosure under the Act “CANNOT come at the expense of the privacy, safety, and protection of sexual abuse and sex trafficking victims . .” Clearly victims’ safety and privacy are paramount and consistent with Section 2(c}(1 }(A} of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Date: December 10, 2025
New York, New York
RICHARD M. BERMAN, U.S.D.J.
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