ISTANBUL

The US Justice Department has asked two judges in the Southern District of New York to authorize the release of grand jury records and exhibits from the prosecutions of the late disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell ahead of a 30-day deadline to release the Epstein files.

Attorney Jay Clayton, chosen by US Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe Democrats connected to Epstein, filed a motion urging the judges in the Epstein and Maxwell cases to allow the redacted grand jury materials to be released, according to ABC News.

"In the light of the (Epstein Files Transparency) Act’s clear mandate, the Court should authorize the Department of Justice to release the grand jury transcripts and exhibits and modify any preexisting protective orders that would otherwise prevent public disclosure by the Government of materials the disclosure of which is required by the Act,” the motion said.

The act was recently signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial. He pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 of procuring a minor for prostitution.

Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 on charges related to procuring girls, some as young as 14 years old, for Epstein. She was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in June 2022. The US Supreme Court in October this year rejected Maxwell's bid to dismiss her conviction on charges related to grooming young girls for Epstein.