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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 809 _ Filed 08/11/25 Page15of31 ground to dismiss the indictment against her. And any such motion to dismiss on this basis today would very likely be futile, because Maxwell’s conviction at trial renders all but the most serious errors in the grand jury proceedings harmless. See Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States, 489 U.S. 794, 799-802 (1989) (“Only a defect so fundamental that it causes the grand jury no longer to be a grand jury, or the indictment no longer to be an indictment, gives rise to the constitutional right not to be tried.”); United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 70-73 (1986). The Government instead invokes the “special circumstances” doctrine, on the ground that there is an “abundant public interest” in obtaining additional information about Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes, and the DOJ and FBI’s investigation into them. Gov’t Mem. at 4; see also id. at 1. It states that “[a]ttention given to the Epstein and Maxwell cases has recently intensified in the wake of the July 6, 2025 Memorandum announcing the conclusions of the Government’s review into the investigation,” id. at 5, and that release of the Maxwell grand jury materials is essential to the goal of “transparency to the American public,” which “is of the utmost importance to this Administration,” Motion to Unseal at 1. “Public officials, lawmakers, pundits, and ordinary citizens,” it states, “remain deeply interested and concerned about the Epstein matter.” /d. at 3. And the Maxwell grand jury materials, the Government represents, are “critical pieces of an important moment in our nation’s history,” and “[t]he time for the public to guess at what they contain should end.” Jd. at 3-4 (quoting Jn re Petition of Nat. Sec. Archive, 104 F. Supp. 3d 625, 629 (S.D.N.Y. 2015)). '3 A district court in the Southern District of Florida recently denied the Government’s motion to unseal grand jury materials relating to the Government’s investigation of Epstein in that district, finding that no Rule 6(e) exception applied. See Order Den. Pet. to Unseal Grand Jury Trs., Jn re Grand Jury 5-02 (WPB) & 7-103 (WPB), 25 Misc. 80920 (S.D. Fla. July 23, 2025), Dkt. 4. Because the Eleventh Circuit does not recognize the “special circumstances” doctrine, that argument for disclosure was not available to the Government in that district. 15 DOJ-OGR-00015147