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DOJ Mobilizes 400 Lawyers to Review Millions of Epstein Files, Prioritizing Victim Privacy
Washington D.C. – The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday night that over two million files connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are still awaiting release. A court filing revealed a massive undertaking, with a team of 400 lawyers now dedicated to reviewing these documents to ensure “victim privacy.”
The filing, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, outlines the DOJ’s strategy to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. This legislation, signed into law by President Donald Trump last year after significant pressure from victims, advocates, and lawmakers, mandates the release of these records. Trump has consistently denied any involvement or knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities.
This update confirms earlier reports from NBC News regarding the extensive review process for millions of files before their public disclosure. To date, only 12,000 documents, totaling 125,000 pages, have been released in three separate tranches.
The DOJ’s filing, addressed to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, emphasized the department’s commitment to “victim privacy-related review and redaction of certain of the materials.”
In the coming weeks, the filing states, “in the range of over 400 lawyers across the Department will dedicate all or a substantial portion of their workday to the Department’s efforts to comply with the Act.” Additionally, the FBI is contributing over 100 specialists experienced in handling “sensitive victim materials.”
The department also acknowledged complaints from victims regarding previously released information that they believed should have been redacted. In response, the DOJ is refining its procedures for evaluating files and streamlining how it addresses redaction requests from victims.
Since the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the department has received dozens of inquiries from victims. To address these concerns and improve accuracy, the DOJ will now implement “additional electronic quality control searches.”
The filing noted, “Prior releases have included tens of thousands of manual redactions of victim-identifying information. Even with these efforts and related quality control checks, unfortunately, information that victims believe should have been redacted has been posted.”
To prevent future issues, the DOJ will work to deduplicate the vast number of files across various departmental sections, ensuring a consistent level of redaction. New document categories will be introduced, and DOJ lawyers will be specifically assigned to files containing “sensitive victim-identifying information.”
Epstein, a disgraced financier, died by apparent suicide in a New York jail in August 2019 at the age of 66 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.