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In their letter, federal prosecutors asked the judge in the case, Alison J. Nathan, to schedule a hearing on the matter in about a month, adding that “any juror investigation should be conducted exclusively under the supervision of the court.”

Early Wednesday evening, Judge Nathan set a schedule for motions on Ms. Maxwell’s bid for a new trial, giving the defense until Jan. 19 to file a motion and setting Feb. 2 as the government’s deadline for responding.

“The parties’ briefing should address whether an inquiry of some kind is permitted and/or required, and if so, the nature of such an inquiry,” the judge wrote. She also granted the government’s request to offer count-appointed legal counsel to the juror whose statements prompted the flurry of post-trial activity.

One immediate question in an inquiry would most likely be how the two jurors responded to the questionnaires, sent to hundreds of prospective jurors in the weeks before the trial, in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The form included questions on a range of topics, including whether prospective jurors or members of their families had experienced sexual abuse. The prospective jurors’ responses remain under seal.

The juror who was interviewed by the other news outlets told Reuters he “flew through” the initial questionnaire and did not recall being asked about his personal experiences with sexual abuse. He said he would have answered such questions honestly, Reuters reported.

He and the second juror both made it to the next round of jury selection, appearing in court in November. There, in a process known as voir dire, Judge Nathan, drawing on their questionnaire answers, asked them several follow-up questions. Neither was asked in that setting whether they had been sexually abused, nor did they say that they had been.