Jeffrey Epstein’s grand jury transcripts will not be published after a judge shot down a request from the Trump administration.

Handing down the ruling at a court in Manhattan on Wednesday, federal Judge Richard Berman said the information contained in the transcripts “pales in comparison to the Epstein investigative information and materials in the hands of the department of justice (DoJ).”

The judge presiding over the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, also turned down a similar government request recently.

The DoJ had informed Judge Berman that the only witness to testify before the Epstein grand jury was an FBI agent who, the judge noted, “had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay”.

The agent testified over two days, on June 18 2019, and July 2 2019. The entire transcript was 70 pages. The rest of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow shown during the June 18 session and a call log shown during the July 2 session, which ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein. Both of those will also remain sealed, Judge Berman ruled.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls and young women. She was recently transferred from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Epstein died in jail awaiting trial.

Maxwell’s case has been the subject of heightened public scrutiny since the DoJ said that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation.