In Rejecting Bid to Unseal Grand Jury Testimony, Judge Paul Engelmeyer Accuses Todd Blanche of “Diversion”
Judge Paul Engelmayer has rejected Todd Blanche’s bid to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury materials — but not for the reason I expected (Maxwell’s still-pending appeal).
Instead, he’s rejecting the request because Blanche was lying when he insinuated there’d be anything of substantial public interest. As Engelmayer laid out, anyone who followed the trial would be familiar with everything in the transcripts and exhibits.
A member of the public familiar with the Maxwell trial record who reviewed the grand jury materials that the Government proposes to unseal would thus learn next to nothing new. The materials do not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor. They do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s. They do not reveal any heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes.
Engelmayer did consider unsealing the material for another reason: to expose the government’s attempt at diversion. But he decided that the government has already conceded that point.
The one colorable argument under that doctrine for unsealing in this case, in fact, is that doing so would expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal. A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at “transparency” but at diversion—aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such. And there is precedent—In re Biaggi, the fountainhead of the Second Circuit’s “special circumstances” doctrine—permitting a court to order the release of grand jury testimony to correct a movant’s misleading public characterization of it.
[snip]
This Court gave careful consideration to unsealing the Maxwell grand jury materials on a similar rationale. But with the Government having now conceded that the information it proposes to release is redundant of the public record—that this information was “made publicly available at [Maxwell’s] trial or has otherwise been publicly reported”—the public interest in testing the Government’s bona fides does not require the extraordinary step of unsealing grand jury records. Dkt. 800 at 3. Without any need to review the grand jury materials, the public can evaluate for itself the Government’s asserted bases for making this motion. [my emphasis]
He goes onto call out Blanche’s haste, sloppiness, and ignorance about the proceeding, and his inattention to the concerns of the victims.
Second, any argument that the Government’s motion to unseal merits substantial deference is weakened by a host of irregularities with respect to that motion. That motion was not made, nor has it been joined in, by any member of the Government’s trial team—the DOJ lawyers presumably most familiar with the Maxwell case and the broader Epstein-Maxwell investigation. The motion was filed by the DAG alone, without any signatory from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in this District. And it was made under circumstances suggestive of haste rather than reflective deliberation. The motion was three-and-a-half pages in length; there were no supporting materials filed, under seal or otherwise; the motion did not disclose (or reflect awareness of) the summary-witness nature of the Maxwell grand jury testimony; and the motion was made without advance notice to Epstein’s and Maxwell’s victims, a fact which, as reviewed below, has alarmed numerous victims. Only after the Court inquired on that point was notice to victims given. See Dkt. 789; Dkt. 796 at 9. Finally, the Government’s highlighting of the grand jury transcripts did not suggest close familiarity with the Maxwell trial record, because a number of details that it identified as non-public in fact had been testified to during the trial. See note 16, supra.
This was a stunt. Now exposed as a stunt.
Long time listener, first time caller. There is literally nothing about this on NYTimes website. Shameful.
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It seems as if the federal trial courts are the only source of truth and good news to be had, these days.
I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
What’s next? Rounding up and locking away the homeless in DC? Cosplaying a diplomat by meeting with Putin in Sarah Palin’s back yard? “Ordering” tech companies and universities to fire their CEOs? Making Missouri’s favorite auctioneer and former IRS commissioner Billy Long the ambassador to Iceland?
*sigh*
Good on Engelmayer for his smackdown here, and good on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals for affirming Emmet Sullivan in no uncertain terms in his smackdown of Trump. Still, it’s gonna take a lot more rulings like these and a whole lot more work in Congress and in local settings to really make a dent in Trump and Trumpism.
Anyone wanting to know what a real federal judge looks like could do a lot worse than Judge Engelmayer. In advance of certain vilification by Trump/MAGA on the basis of “appointed by Obama,” it’s critical to know that Engelmayer clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall and was approved by the Senate 98-0.
98-0. Maybe that’s what gives him the spine to tell Todd Blanche to fuck the hell off. Or maybe it’s the legacy of Thurgood Marshall. Whatever it is, we need it desperately now.
It is fairly obvious that a cover up of Trump’s involvement with Epstein is under way. It would be interesting to compare how the press covered Watergate with how they are dealing with Epstein-Trump gate. My recollection was that there was a steady drip before the press turned into wolves following the stench.
Perversion diversions.
Such a nasty judge. I LOVE IT. Thank you for this sliver of sanity, Dr. Wheeler. The Trump worship at Fox is off the charts.
Pure conjecture on my part but this supposed assault on “Big Balls” which has led to this DC Reichstag moment seemed to me, from the very first report of it – 3 a.m., outnumbered, protecting his gf, reacting to “attempted carjacking”, bloody photo – phony, phony, phony. I point to the prevalence of right-wing fight clubs, “from Canada to Finland” as a Guardian headline put it, including the USA, and the unwavering of true believers such as “Big Balls” and I’ll need video WITH audio to challenge my faith in the falseness of this claim. Tyler Durden lives, and he’s an acolyte of this regime.
Re: my above – apologies for off-topic but the media swallows whole the “fact” that he was assaulted. I say “self-inflicted” or with the help of other true believers.
That he got that way by fighting multiple teenagers is believable. How much he was picking a fight vs. they started it, can be debated. Also, don’t lose sight of distracting from Epstein Files and how much Trump is listed in them.
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Possible? Yes. Probably, not hardly.
Has Todd Blanche been evaluated under concussion protocols yet? NFL, they’d take you out to evaluate, if you got hit that hard. In boxing, I’d assume the ref would call it.
On a substantive level, the opinion leaves almost no room for appeal. All’s that left is really, “When a Republican asks, the courts must comply.”
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Sorry, I haven’t been following. What’s SVR?
SVR = Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii (Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Service_(Russia)
If you type “SVR” in Wikipedia’s search field and go to the disambiguation page you’ll find this. Try harder — this is not an Introduction to Geopolitics site. Readers here should be able to do basic research for term definitions.
ADDER: Your other duplicative comment was removed as no one had yet replied to it.
So it’s not short for Stevie Ray Vaughan, spelled sideways, sort of? ;P
No. Let’s get back on topic in this thread.
Russian intel.
To paraphrase Ebeneezer Scrooge, have you no Internet? The tread mill of doing one’s own homework, is it not in operation?
We’re in the trading-of-blows portion of a boxing match, where the guy defending his belt has a glove full of razor blades, and two of the three judges are in on it.
“This was a stunt. Now exposed as a stunt.” MicDrop Marcy!
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“This was a stunt. Now exposed as a stunt.”
I’m beginning to think that Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to a low security camp style prison is another deceptive stunt. After reading the Daily Mail article about her habits and routines in the Florida prison, it made me wonder if she was training to make an escape from her new digs in Texas. Apparently she ran 5 miles a day while in FL and is said to be very physically fit.
So, maybe she has a backup plan in case she doesn’t get a pardon. Maybe she’ll just jog out of there, hookup with a family member or friend and make an escape to a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty. Since she knows how to pilot a helicopter, maybe that will even be part of the plan. It would give Trump a kind of win-win solution without antagonizing his base because he could say he didn’t pardon her. Just a thought.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14984325/Ghislaine-Maxwell-inmate-dirt-Donald-Trump-Sex-traffickers-cellmate-reveals-Epstein.html
While you were obviously having a bit of fun, I haven’t rejected the thought that Epstein was told to kill himself “or else” and alerted exactly when would be the ideal time and means. It would be even easier (or at least much less messy) to move a few things around and tell Ghislaine “shame if we don’t have line of sight on you at 3:28pm four days from now”.
Timothy Leary escaped from a minimum security prison in San Luis Obispo CA ion 1970 by pulling himself on a high wire over a 12-foot chainlink fence topped with barbed wire, with the help of the Weathermen and Black Panthers.
If Ghislane is physically fit as Leary was, I wouldn’t consider this out of the realm of possibility.
I don’t think appeals are even possible. That diversion talk is a booby-trap for John Roberts and the Fash Five. Just like Karen Henderson’s “no court would” is a booby trap.