Crime Alert, I'm John Lemley.

The Justice Department is moving to unsealed grand jury transcripts in the federal sex

trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Galane Maxwell.

But former federal prosecutors say the move is unlikely to reveal much, if anything, new.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch submitted the request, urging federal judges to release

transcripts from grand jury proceedings that led to charges about Epstein and Maxwell.

Blanche said the goal is greater transparency for the American public.

But former Manhattan Assistant U.S. attorney Sandra Khrisov called the move,

quote, a distraction, suggesting its more political theater than meaningful action.

She told the Associated Press that in her words, it really is nothing.

Epstein died by suicide in a federal jail cell in August 2019, just one month after his arrest

on federal sex trafficking charges. He was 66. Maxwell, now 63, is serving a 20-year sentence

following her 2021 conviction for recruiting underage girls for Epstein. Chrisas and other former federal prosecutor Joshua Neftalus say the grand jury transcripts

likely contain little beyond the bare minimum needed to secure indictments.

Both described a longstanding practice in the Southern District of New York,

present narrowly tailored cases to grand juries

using agent testimony, not lengthy witness accounts. Neftalus estimated the transcripts may only span

a few hundred pages, possibly as few as 60. Chrisov added the Southern District's strategy as to,

quote, spoon-feed the indictment to the jury,

leaving out deeper details the public might expect.

Judges may ultimately deny the Justice Department's request.

In Maxwell's case, legal appeals remain active, including a petition before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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