Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a letter to Congress explaining the department’s protocol for reviewing and redacting the Jeffrey Epstein files ahead of Friday’s release, including redacting the names of more than 1,200 victim names and their relatives.
To comply with the law, several redactions had to be made, according to the department. Information redacted, Blanche said, included any material that contained personally identifiable information of victims, child sexual abuse materials, classified national defense or foreign policy information, or would jeopardize an active investigation.
“This process resulted in over 1,200 names being identified as victims or their relatives. The Department has redacted reference to such names,” Blanche wrote.
Even though the law required DOJ to produce all of its materials by December 19, Blanche said the department has been receiving new information as recently as this week and suggested that the ongoing review process would be completed “over the next two weeks.”
“Today, the Department is producing hundreds of thousands of pages of documents responsive to the Act. This disclosure highlights President Trump’s, Attorney General Bondi’s, and Director Patel’s absolute commitment to transparency consistent with the law,” he wrote.
Blanche added that DOJ was also withholding and redacting “a limited amount of information otherwise covered by various privileges, including deliberative-process privilege, work-product privilege, and attorney-client privilege.”
Blanche argued that the law passed by Congress does not require DOJ to produce privileged materials but added that “a privilege log will be produced in due course as required under the Act.”
Blanche said that the review team at DOJ consisted of more than 200 Department attorneys.
In Friday’s production specifically, Blanche told Congress that the items released included:
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Portions of the FBI New York investigative file for the 2018 Epstein criminal case for child sex trafficking and 2019 Maxwell criminal case
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The FBI Miami investigative file for the 2006 Epstein criminal case for child prostitution
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The FBI Miami investigative file for the 2009 Alfredo Rodriguez criminal case for obstruction of justice
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The FBI New York investigative file for the 2019 Epstein death investigation
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The FBI New York investigative file for a threat made against one of Epstein’s victims
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Investigative materials underlying OIG’s June 2023 report into Epstein’s death
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BOP materials related to Epstein’s custody at Metropolitan Correctional Center New York (MCC New York), including visitor logbooks, commissary records, and count slips
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Grand-jury materials from the SDNY Epstein criminal case, SDNY Maxwell criminal case, and SDFL Epstein criminal case
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Court records from civil and criminal cases involving Epstein, Maxwell, and the Epstein estate
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Materials produced by the DOJ in various cases brought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
“Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi, this unprecedented disclosure highlights our commitment to following the law, being transparent, and protecting victims,” Blanche wrote.
