Judges block then reverse on Epstein files as House subpoenas Maxwell

Three federal judges initially blocked Epstein grand jury unsealing in Jul.-Aug. 2025: Judge Robin Rosenberg (🌴Florida, Jul. 23), Judge Paul Engelmayer for Maxwell materials (SDNY, Aug. 11), and Judge Richard Berman for Epstein materials (SDNY, Aug. 20)—all citing Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) grand jury secrecy protections

House Oversight Chair JCJames Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed Ghislaine Maxwell on Jul. 23, 2025 for Aug. 11 prison deposition at FCI Tallahassee, but deposition was postponed to Oct., then Nov., then shelved when Maxwell's attorneys said she would invoke Fifth Amendment protection

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent Congress home early Jul. 22-23, 2025, moving final votes from Thursday to Wednesday to avoid floor vote on Epstein files before Aug. recess—blocking Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna's (D-CA) discharge petition

Epstein Files Transparency Act passed House 427-1 on Nov. 18, 2025 (lone no: Rep. Clay Higgins), Senate unanimous consent same day, Trump signed Nov. 19 requiring DOJ release all unclassified Epstein records within 30 days (Dec. 19 deadline)

Three judges reversed within one week in Dec. 2025 after transparency law passed: Judge Rodney Smith (🌴Florida, Dec 5), Judge Engelmayer (Maxwell materials, Dec 9), Judge Berman (Epstein materials, Dec 10)—all citing the law as overriding grand jury secrecy rules

DOJ missed Dec. 19 statutory deadline, announcing on Dec. 24, 2025 (Christmas Eve) that SDNY and FBI found over 1 million additional potentially-related documents needing 'a few more weeks' to review—released only 12,285 documents (less than 1%) by late Dec.

Judge Engelmayer denied Massie-Khanna request for special master to enforce DOJ compliance on Jan. 21, 2026, ruling court lacks authority to grant Representatives' request—leaving transparency law with no judicial enforcement mechanism