The DOJ says it’s taken down \u00ab\u00a0several thousand documents and media\u00a0\u00bb from its Epstein files website that \u00ab\u00a0may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information.\u00a0\u00bb<\/b>
\nDepartment of Justice officials say they have taken down \u00ab\u00a0several thousand documents and media\u00a0\u00bb from its website containing files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that \u00ab\u00a0may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information due to various factors, including technical or human error\u00a0\u00bb, according to a letter filed on the dockets of two federal judges Monday.
The government’s update comes after attorneys for Epstein’s victims asked the judges late Sunday to urgently order that the DOJ site be taken down because of redaction failures exposing the names or personal information, they said, of \u00ab\u00a0nearly 100 individual survivors whose lives have been turned upside down by the DOJ’s latest release.\u00a0\u00bb
The DOJ’s letter — submitted by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — also notes that the Justice Department has \u00ab\u00a0further expedited its processes\u00a0\u00bb for responding to Epstein victims’ concerns and for removing documents to be reexamined for additional redactions.
The letter gives no indication that the government intends to pull the site offline, but it says they are continuing to engage with victims and their counsel to identify and remove materials, and are \u00ab\u00a0making further enhancements\u00a0\u00bb to best address victims’ concerns while also complying with the disclosure requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act that mandates the release of the files.
\u00ab\u00a0As of the writing of this letter, all documents requested by victims or counsel to be removed by yesterday evening have been removed for further redaction, and the Department is continuing to process any new requests and to run its own searches to identify any other documents that may require further redaction\u00a0\u00bb, Clayton wrote. He noted that the DOJ had also removed a \u00ab\u00a0substantial number\u00a0\u00bb of documents identified independently by the department.
Clayton wrote that the DOJ has \u00ab\u00a0iteratively revised its protocols\u00a0\u00bb and has \u00ab\u00a0teams of personnel\u00a0\u00bb monitoring requests by victims and their lawyers.
The Justice Department is not \u00ab\u00a0relying solely\u00a0\u00bb on the victims to identify specific documents, Clayton said. A team worked through the weekend, according to the letter, running \u00ab\u00a0supplemental searches to identify missed redactions.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0The first 24 hours of engagement on these issues, as well as the Department’s own internal review of its processes, following the release of documents on Friday led to significant enhancements to and streamlining of the Department’s processes for addressing victim concerns\u00a0\u00bb, Clayton wrote.
Three million pages from the DOJ’s files on Epstein were being released to the public, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday. Blanche said in total there were 6 million pages of Epstein documents in the DOJ’s files, but that nearly 3 million pages were being withheld for various reasons including the presence of child sexual abuse material and the obligation to protect victims’ rights.<\/p>\n