Transcripts of the secret grand jury testimony that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell shouldn’t be released, a judge ruled Monday in a stinging decision suggesting the Justice Department's real motive for wanting them unsealed was to fool the public with an “illusion” of transparency.

President Trump has tried to subdue conspiracy theories by pushing to disclose the transcripts from the cases of Jeffrey Epstein, who abused teenage girls, and Ghislaine Maxwell, who assisted him.

A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that grand jury records from the sex trafficking case of Ghislaine Maxwell - partner of late financier Jeffrey Epstein - will remain sealed, writing that their release would not answer lingering questions about the case despite the Justice Department's portrayal of them as matters of significant public interest.