Epstein Accusers Weigh In on Maxwell Case

Women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein are feeling skeptical and anxious about the Justice Department's handling of records related to the convicted sex offender, with some backing more public disclosures as an overdue measure of transparency, and others expressing concerns about their privacy and the Trump administration's motivations. In letters addressed to federal judges in New York this week, several victims or their attorneys said they'd support the public release of grand jury testimony that led to criminal indictments against Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell—if the government agreed to allow them to review the material and redact sensitive information, per the AP.

The DOJ has asked the court to take the rare step of unsealing transcripts of that secret testimony, in part to placate people who believe that the government has hidden some things it knows about Epstein's wrongdoing. "I am not some pawn in your political warfare," one alleged victim wrote in a letter submitted to the court by her lawyer this week. "What you have done and continue to do is eating at me day after day as you help to perpetuate this story indefinitely." Added another victim, in a letter submitted anonymously on Wednesday: "This is all very exhausting." Alicia Arden, who said Epstein sexually assaulted her in the late 1990s, held a presser Wednesday in Los Angeles and said she'd support the release of additional material related to the case.

But Arden also expressed outrage at the possibility that Maxwell could receive clemency or other special treatment through the process, adding that the DOJ's approach had been "very upsetting" so far. In a letter submitted to the court Tuesday, attorneys representing numerous Epstein victims wrote, "For survivors who bravely testified, the perception that Ms. Maxwell is being legitimized in public discourse has already resulted in retraumatization." An attorney for Maxwell, David Oscar Markus, said this week that she opposed the release of the grand jury transcripts. "Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not," he wrote. "Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain."