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September 12, 2025
VIA EMAIL
Honorable Richard Berman
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10007
Re: United States v. Jeffrey Epstein, 19 Cr. 490 (RMB)
Dear Judge Berman:
NBC News respectfully submits this letter in support of Tom Winter’s request to unseal
two names redacted from the Government’s July 19, 2019 letter arguing for Mr. Epstein’s pre-
trial detention.
I. Introduction
NBC News’ discrete unsealing request involves a straightforward application of well-
settled law. Simply put, the July 2019 Letter is a “judicial document” subject to a presumptive
right of access under both the common law, see United States v. Graham, 257 F.3d 143, 153 (2d
Cir. 2001), and the First Amendment, see In re New York Times Co., 828 F.2d 110, 114 (2d Cir.
1987). Because that presumptive right has not been overcome, the two redacted names in the Letter
should be unsealed.
II. Discussion
A. The Common Law
The Government acknowledges that NBC News has a presumptive common law right of
access to the sealed names, see Opp. at 2, but glosses over the considerable weight that right must
be afforded in this case. See United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1049 (2d Cir. 1995) (Amodeo
II) (once a presumptive right of access is established, courts must determine the “weight to be
given the presumption”). The Second Circuit has held that the presumptive right of access “is at
its apogee when asserted with respect to documents relating to matters that directly affect an
adjudication.” Gambale v. Deutsche Bank AG, 377 F.3d 133, 140 (2d Cir. 2004).
Because the July 2019 Letter undoubtedly relates to matters that directly affected an
adjudication—namely, the decision of whether to grant Mr. Epstein bail—the two redacted names
in that letter “should not remain under seal absent the most compelling reasons.” Id. (quoting Joy
v. North, 692 F.2d 880, 893 (2d Cir. 1982)). Moreover, the burden falls squarely on the Government
to justify keeping the names a secret. See Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1047.
MEMO ENDORSED
See page 4.
Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 81 Filed 09/15/25 Page 1 of 4