A federal judge ordered to keep parts of a transcript filed for Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case under seal, finding that information would be too “sensational and impure” to reveal to the public.
U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan issued a ruling on redactions on Thursday, ruling that its disclosure would do nothing more than cater to the desire to know things.
“Those portions of the transcript, which were redacted in the civil matter, concern privacy interests, and their disclosure would merely serve to cater to a ‘craving for that which is sensational and impure,” the judge said.
“The Court thus concludes that such redactions are justified.”
The decision comes from federal prosecutors in Manhattan, and Maxwell’s attorneys battle over which of the pieces of evidence may be unsealed before Maxwell’s trial in July.
In January, Maxwell’s legal team filed 12 motions to dismiss all of the charges relating to her alleged role in Jeffrey Epstein’s case.
Initially, the government responded with an ‘omnibus memorandum of law’ opposing Maxwell’s motions, but the judge sided with Maxwell on several additional redactions proposed.
“The interest in protecting the safety and privacy of those individuals outweighs the presumption of access that attaches to those documents,” Nathan said.
However, the judge agreed that other exhibits could have their redactions removed from public court filings should the prosecutors justify the motion.
In the past, Maxwell’s lawyers argued that the perjury charge against their client should be dropped because she didn’t understand what “sexual activities” meant.
The 59-year-old socialite on charges related to recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by Epstein during the 1990s.
In July of last year, she was arrested and had been held in jail for the presumption that she is a “flight risk.”
Prosecutors also alleged that Maxwell lied about her activities during the civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of her accusers.