Epstein Files Disaster: Justice Department Pulls Thousands Of Documents After Survivors’ Names Accidentally Exposed – ‘A Betrayal,’ Say Victims

A fresh round of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice caused a new controversy this week after officials discovered that some of the material accidentally showed victims’ personal information. In response, the Justice Department said it has taken down “several thousand documents and media” that may have included identifying details.

The files are part of a massive release of records related to Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender, after lawmakers passed a transparency law requiring the government to make the material public. However, the latest release drew immediate concern from attorneys for Epstein’s survivors, who said that unredacted names and other personal data were visible in the documents.

Jeffrey Epstein Victims Speak Out

According to reports, victims’ lawyers asked federal judges in New York to take down the entire Justice Department site where the files were posted, saying the mistakes had affected “nearly 100 individual survivors” whose lives were once again disrupted by the exposure of their identities.

In a letter to the judges, US Attorney Jay Clayton said the department had removed most of the materials flagged by victims or their lawyers, as well as a “substantial number” of additional files identified by the department itself. Clayton described the errors as likely the result of technical or human mistakes during the redaction process, the reports said. 

Clayton said the Justice Department has been revising its protocols for reviewing and pulling down documents whenever concerns are raised. He explained that when a victim or lawyer alerts officials that personal information was not properly removed, the department pulls the document and evaluates it before reposting a corrected version.

Errors described as rare

As per reports, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke about the issue in an interview on ABC’s This Week. He acknowledged that there had been some errors but said the department was acting quickly to fix them. Blanche stressed that the number of problematic files was small and gave context to how rare such mistakes were: “The numbers we’re talking about, just so the American people understand, we’re talking about .001 percent of all the materials,” he said.

Lawyers and survivors have said the release has been traumatic. One attorney told ABC News that simply identifying and reporting all the documents with exposed victim names was almost impossible, and urged the Justice Department to take the site offline until the redactions could be done correctly. As per reports, survivors also issued statements saying that releasing their names and details was a “betrayal” and retraumatizing.

The Justice Department continues to work through the files, removing and re-redacting material as concerns are raised. Officials say their goal is to protect privacy while complying with the law that requires the release of the documents.

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