Lawmakers Allege Improper Redactions in Epstein Files by DOJ
US lawmakers have raised concerns that files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were improperly redacted prior to their release by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
On Monday, members of Congress were granted access to review un-redacted versions of approximately three million pages of documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) since December.
"The core issue is that they're not complying with... my law, because these were scrubbed back in March by Donald Trump's FBI," Democratic Representative Ro Khanna told MS NOW.
Following the lawmakers' complaint, at least one document has been un-redacted. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated on X (formerly Twitter):
"The DOJ is committed to transparency."
Thousands of documents have already been removed from the public collection after Epstein's victims reported that their identities had been exposed due to incomplete redactions.
After examining the un-redacted documents, Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, co-sponsors of the law mandating the release of the Epstein files last year, informed reporters that they had identified a list of approximately 20 individuals whose names were redacted except for Epstein's and his convicted sex trafficker associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
"Six of the names could even belong to men who are 'likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files'," Massie said outside the DOJ on Monday evening, before sharing a screenshot of the redacted file online and demanding an explanation.
These names were "inappropriately" redacted, Khanna said on MS NOW.
In response to these concerns, Blanche indicated that his department had "just unredacted all non-victim names from this document," reaffirming the DOJ's commitment to transparency.
He linked to what appears to be a new version of the file, which still contains the names of Epstein victims—whose identities the EFTA law requires the government to conceal—with only two names remaining blacked out.
Blanche also addressed two other files highlighted by Massie, stating that those files do not obscure any substantive information.
However, Khanna argued that these actions taken after the documents' release still do not comply with the EFTA law, which passed nearly unanimously in Congress and was signed by President Trump in November.
"Trump's FBI scrubbed these files in March," Khanna stated on social media. "The documents (the Department of) Justice [received] had the redactions that the FBI made back then.
They need to unscrub the FBI files so we know who the rich and powerful men are who raped underage girls."
Massie commented that the incorrect redactions indicate the Justice Department "need to do a little more homework" in handling the files.
"What we found out is those 302 forms were redacted before they got to the DOJ," he said, referring to FBI reports. This contradicts the law's directive for the FBI—part of the DOJ—to remove redactions before sending the documents to Deputy Attorney General Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi's office.
Among the redactions flagged by Massie on Monday night was a document appearing to show an email exchange between Epstein and an unidentified individual discussing a "torture video" and travel between China and the United States.
Massie claimed that "a Sultan seems to have sent this" and demanded the concealed identity be revealed.
Blanche responded by quoting Massie's post on X, explaining that the blacked-out text is an email address.
"The law requires redactions for personally identifiable information, including if in an email address. And you know that the Sultan's name is available unredacted in the files," he said.
"Stop grandstanding," he added.
Massie also criticized the omission of the name of a "well known retired CEO" from the publicly available version of an FBI document listing potential Epstein co-conspirators.
Within hours, Blanche confirmed that the name—which already appears elsewhere in the files—had been uncovered.
"DOJ is hiding nothing," he wrote.
Representatives Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, and Lauren Boebert, a Republican, were among the lawmakers who reviewed the documents on Monday.
"I think there are folks who are definitely implicated" named in the files, Boebert said.
Raskin criticized the limited access provided to lawmakers, describing it as a "cover up."
"The DOJ is giving Members of Congress just four computers in a satellite office to read the unredacted Epstein File of more than 3 million documents," he wrote on X, estimating it would take Congress seven years to read all the documents.
The redactions in the files came under scrutiny last week after lawyers for Epstein's victims reported that the latest batch of files included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of potential victims could be identified.
Survivors issued a statement condemning the disclosure as "outrageous," emphasizing that they should not be "named, scrutinized and retraumatized."
The DOJ stated it had removed all flagged files and attributed the errors to "technical or human error."
