DOJ takes down thousands of Epstein documents from website after victims identified

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed thousands of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein Files from its website after the identities of the victims were allegedly compromised. Legal aides of the victims said a lack of redactions in the files released on Friday had "turned upside down" the lives of nearly 100 survivors. The documents also had email addresses and nude photos along with the names of the potential victims. The survivors of the sex offence issued a statement calling the disclosure "outrageous" and said they should not be "named, scrutinised and retraumatised".

The DOJ said it had taken down all the flagged files and that mistakes were due to "technical or human error". The department submitted a letter to a deferral judge on Monday (Feb 2) saying, "All documents requested by victims or counsel to be removed by yesterday evening have been removed for further redaction."

As per the terms of release of the documents, the federal government was required to redact details which could identify victims. On Friday (Jan 30), two lawyers representing the victims asked a federal judge in New York to order the DOJ to take down the website hosting the files, calling the release "the single most egregious violation of victim privacy in one day in United States history".

The department also said it was checking if any other documents need further redaction. Annie Farmer, one of the Epstein survivors, told the BBC, "It's hard to focus on the new information that has been brought to light because of how much damage the DOJ has done by exposing survivors in this way."

Another of Epstein's victims, Lisa Phillips, told the outlet that the survivors were "very unhappy with the outcome" of the release. "The DOJ has violated all three of our requirements," she told BBC's Newsday on Tuesday, adding: “Number one, many documents still haven't been disclosed. Number two, the date set for release has long passed. And number three, DOJ released the names of many of the survivors.” She further said, "We feel like they're playing some games with us but we're not going to stop fighting."