Thousands of Epstein files were taken down after the names of other survivors and nude photos were discovered
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WARNING: This article may concern those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who has.
Almost as soon as the US Department of Justice released another three million Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday, it began recovering thousands of them.
Advocates for victims of the late sex offender were quick to point out that, despite the department’s promises, some of its published records contain the names or other identifying information of scores of women who accused Epstein of sex trafficking, harassment and other crimes.
“On January 30, 2026, the DOJ committed what may be the worst violation of victim privacy in a single day in the history of the United States,” attorneys Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards. he wrote in a book asking two US federal judges to order the government to take down the website that hosts the Epstein files.
“No perceived level of institutional inefficiency is sufficient to explain the scale, consistency and persistence of the failure that occurred – especially when the only task it was mandated to do … was simple: Edit the names of known victims before publication.”
The nudity of the victims, the names published
The Department of Justice is committed to doing everything possible to “ensure that the privacy of victims is protected as much as possible,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi and US Attorney Jay Clayton. means days before release. That included assigning more than 500 lawyers and reviewers to manually review documents page by page and review videos, “but also electronic searches for victims’ names or other identifiers.”
The department has been looking at your filings since at least Nov. 19, when the Epstein Files Privacy Act was passed into law. Despite those efforts, however, the Epstein files were published on Friday including nude pictures of girls – some of whom may have been teenagers – and information such as victims’ names and dates of birth.
CBC News has learned that among the since-deleted documents is a 2007 transcript of testimony from an agent assigned to the FBI’s Operation Leap Year, the code name for the agency’s investigation against Epstein.
Although redacted throughout, the transcript includes an agent’s account of one underage victim pictured during the investigation. It showed his first and last name, date of birth and high school.
Later in the testimony, the special agent went on to detail how the girl was hired by Epstein for massages, which later escalated to sexual acts.
There were vivid descriptions of certain incidents, including when Epstein touched her or ordered her to touch him. It is reported that he also gave her a vibrator when she turned 18.
As of Tuesday morning, the document was no longer available on the Justice Department’s website.
The US Department of Justice is releasing another three million pages from the Epstein files today, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said today’s move represents the full release of Epstein’s files, as required by law. Released documents include extensive processing; Blanche said information about the victims was removed before they were released.
‘Arrested Redactions’ leak victim information
Another document that has since been taken down included allegations of potentially criminal behavior by US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton, including allegations of sex with teenage girls. Those claims have not been confirmed by any investigators.
“Some of the documents contain false and outrageous claims against President Trump that were brought to the FBI before the 2020 election,” the Justice Department wrote. press release on Friday.
Some of Epstein’s alleged victims, through attorneys Henderson and Edwards, appealed to the judge overseeing the release of the records to have their names redacted. “I have never come out publicly! I have been harassed by the media and others. This is damaging my life,” said a woman called Jane Doe 5, according to. lawyer’s letter to the court.
In some cases, the release failed to protect the personal privacy of those not connected to the Epstein investigation. For example, CBC News found that the first name of a prison guard who worked at the Manhattan prison where Epstein died was left unchanged at least once, allowing him to be identified in conjunction with other information.
In one example, censors failed to block the personal email address of a young woman whose parents were friends of Epstein, despite redacting it elsewhere.
A Justice Department spokesperson admitted to CBC News in an email earlier this week that 0.1 percent of the pages it removed contained “victim-identifying information that was not redacted” — meaning more than 3,000 pages had to be taken down.
“Our team is working around the clock to fix the problem and republish the correctly edited pages as soon as possible.”
But critics say the gaffes are unacceptable.
“SCHEMES FAILED. VICTIMS LEFT UNPROTECTED. BILLIONS OF FILES EXIST,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote about X. “WHAT ARE THEY HIDING FOR?”
In joint statementsurvivors of the former sexual abuser decried how “they should not be called out, scrutinized, and re-victimized while the Epsteins continue to profit from the cover-up.”
“This is not over yet,” they said. “We will not stop until the truth is fully revealed and all perpetrators are finally held accountable.”
In their court filings, the attorneys said the leak of the victims’ information was entirely preventable, even with “a simple name search.”
“Just type the victim’s name into the search bar, and if there are any results use redo before publishing. The DOJ seems unable or unwilling to do that basic job.”
If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can check crisis lines and local services by using Completes the database of the Canadian Sexual Violence Association. .
