Survivors call redactions in Epstein files 'abnormal'
By: Bart Jansen
WASHINGTON - More than a dozen victims of accused sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein criticized the justice Department's release of documents about the investigation as "riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation."
.....
One example was a grand jury document hat a federal judge allowed to be released, but all 119 pages were blacked out. No financial documents were released and hundreds of thousands of pages remain unreleased.
..... "There are clear-cut violations of an unambiguous law," the survivors wrote in a two-page letter calling for oversight and accountability from Congress.
.....
Two House members who wrote the Epstein Files Transparency act, which directed the Justice Department to release its records by December 19, [2025] accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of "breaking the law" through the partial release of documents and threatened to hold her in contempt of Congress.
..... Bondi reaffirmed on social media that the department would bring charges against anyone involved in convicted sex offender Epstein;s alleged trafficking and exploitation of girls as young as 14 years old. Bondi asked victims to step forward. She called Trump administration the most transparent in history.
..... Congress approved a law, which President Donald Trump signed, demanding the release by December 19 [2025] of all department files that didn't name victims, portray child sexual abuse or hurt the prosecution of cases.
..... "It afforded no permission for delayed disclosure," the survivors said in their letter. "Instead, the public received a fraction of the files."
..... In releasing hundreds of thousands of documents, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged December19 [2025] that hundreds of thousands more documents were still being reviewed. he also told Congress some documents might be withheld under legal privileges covering the internal deliberations of layers or communications with clients.
..... Blanche said more documents will be released within weeks. The law direct the department to list the documents withheld form public release and give the relevant within 15 days.
..... Survivors and lawmakers have advocated for the release of documents to find suspects who may have helped Epstein in his alleged trafficking or any possible cover-up.
..... But besides the delay and redactions, survivors criticized the department for how the documents were released, which they said "made it difficult or impossible for survivors to find materials that would be most relevant to our search."
..... "There has been no guidance for survivors on how to locate materials pertaining to our own cases, nor have we been provided with copies of our own files despite repeated requests," they wrote.
.....
The survivors who signed the letter are Jess Michaels, Rachel Benavidez, Danielle Bensky, Lara Blume McGee, Majke Chartouni, Anouska de Georgio, Maria Farmer, Annie Farmer, Teresa J. Helm, Marian Lacerda, Lisa Philips, Ashley Rubright, Amdan and Sky Roberts, Sharlene Rochard and Liz Stein. Three other identified as A.W and two Jane Does were also included.
..... Represeantive Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and or Khanna, D-California,each accused Bondi of "breaking the law" by not releasing more documents. They threatened to seek to hold her in contempt of Congress.
..... Massie said on social media December 21 [2025] that "Epstein survivors aren't satisfied with the DOJ's incomplete and redacted" disclosures that began December 18. [2025] Massie said that :unfortunately,' Bondi is "breaking the law."
..... Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York proposed a resolution on December 22 [2025] to force the Justice Department to release more documents. But its prospects are uncertain because Democrats are in the minority.