A federal judge on Monday rejected the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

District Judge Paul Engelmayer said there is little in the transcripts that is not already public record and they do not identify anyone other than Maxwell and Epstein as having had sexual contact with underage girls.

President Donald Trump's administration had sought to release the transcripts to help defuse spiraling anger among his own supporters over what they have long seen as a cover-up of Epstein's crimes and high-level connections.

Engelmayer dismissed government arguments that the grand jury transcripts should be released because of "abundant public interest" in the case.

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