Vince McMahon's Former Lawyer Withheld Documents From Federal Prosecutors

A former lawyer for Vince McMahon was wrong to withhold documents from a federal grand jury during their investigation into multimillion-dollar settlements McMahon reached with two female WWE employees who accused him of sexual abuse, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

AP News has noted the 2nd US Court of Appeals in New York upheld a previous lower court ruling which stated the withheld documents were not protected by attorney-client privilege due to an exception for "crime or fraud." The appeals court stated the lower court judge from the previous ruling had reasonable grounds to believe that McMahon and his former lawyer illegally "circumvented" WWE's internal controls, created false records to hide the settlement agreements from WWE, and made false and misleading statements to WWE's auditors.

The appellate judges wrote: "Because the settlement agreements resolving the Victims' claims were 'structured and negotiated...to keep them hidden from (the Company),' the district court found that 'all communications about the claims and settlement agreements were made in furtherance of the criminal scheme to keep (the Company) and its auditors unaware of the allegations.'"

McMahon was not identified within the appeals court's ruling but a person close to the matter confirmed to AP News it was related to Vince McMahon.

AP News noted that federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas to Vince McMahon's former lawyer and his firm in September 2023 as they sought all communications between McMahon, his former attorney, and the law firm about settlements with the two WWE employees, one of which was Janel Grant. McMahon's former lawyer submitted many materials following the subpoenas but they withheld 208 documents, claiming attorney-client privilege. After this, federal prosecutors asked the lower court to compel production of the records, which ultimately led to Monday's appeal.

It was not stated who McMahon's former lawyer was but the appeals court said the individual helped McMahon negotiate the settlements with the two employees. This would suggest the former lawyer is Jerry McDevitt, who represented McMahon from 1987 until 2023. It was stated by Janel Grant in her lawsuit that McDevitt was part of her settlement negotiations with Vince McMahon in 2022 as part of McMahon's representation.

The status of the criminal investigation into Vince McMahon was not made clear by the appeals court but it was stated in Monday's ruling that the case "concerns proceedings currently before a grand jury. At present, no indictments have been issued."

Vince McMahon's lawyer Jessica T. Rosenberg claimed in January 2025 that the criminal investigation was over, saying: 

"The recent federal investigation resulted in no criminal indictments from the SDNY, while the SEC settlement relates to minor accounting issues at WWE that have nothing to do with this case.  Any claims to the contrary made by Janel Grant’s team are just another desperate PR stunt."

People close to McMahon also reportedly claimed the investigation by federal prosecutors was over. The SEC investigation ended with the SEC ruling that McMahon violated the Securities Exchange Act. He was fined $400,000 and McMahon agreed to reimburse $1.33 million to WWE.

Federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York opened a criminal investigation into Vince McMahon in 2022 to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct and sex trafficking against McMahon dating back to the 1980s. Federal agents executed a search warrant for McMahon's phone and delivered a grand jury subpoena to him in the Summer of 2023 for documents related to any allegations of "rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transaction, harassment, or discrimination." The subpoena sought communications between Vince McMahon and several women he had negotiated nondisclosure agreements with, including Janel Grant.

Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis in January 2024, within which Grant accused McMahon of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse. The lawsuit was amended in January 2025 and the case remains ongoing.