Epstein victims’ lawyers urge judges to order shut down of DOJ files website

NEW YORK (TNND) — Lawyers representing hundreds of alleged victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are requesting that two federal judges in New York order the Justice Department immediately take down the Epstein files website.

In the letter obtained by ABC News, attorneys Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards cited an “unfolding emergency” and widespread failures by the DOJ to redact names and identifying information of Epstein’s victims.

“For the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, every hour matters. The harm is ongoing and irreversible,” the letter to U.S. District Judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer read.

Attorneys added that since material began being published on the website in December, they have continuously been in discussion with the department to correct errors and had an expectation “such failures would not recur.”

“That expectation was shattered on January 30, 2026, when DOJ committed what may be the single most egregious violation of victim privacy in one day in United States history,” attorneys said.

Laywers added that since the additional three million pages were released on Friday, there have been “Thousands of redaction failures on behalf of nearly 100 individual survivors whose lives have been turned upside down by the DOJ’s latest release.”

Examples given included FBI documents with full names left unredacted, including an email with 32 minor victims, which had only one name removed.

I have never come forward! I am now being harassed by the media and others,” one victim, identified as Jane Doe, wrote in the letter. “This is devastating to my life. … Please pull my name down immediately as every minute that these document with my name are up, it causes more harm to me. … Please, I’m begging you to delete my name!!!

The DOJ said on Monday it had removed several thousand documents and “media” in the latest batch of documents that may have inadvertently identified victims.

The Justice Department released more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, more than two months after the deadline, bringing the total number of pages made public to 3.5 million. (Courtesy: Justice Department)

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, officials blamed the release of sensitive information on mistakes that were “technical or human error.”

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton wrote that the department has “iteratively revised its protocols for addressing flagging documents” after victims and their lawyers requested changes to the process for review and redaction of posted records.

He wrote that documents are promptly pulled down from the public website when victims flag a concern that something should be redacted. He said the concern is then evaluated before a redacted version of the document can be reposted, “ideally within 24 to 36 hours.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche warned that the recent release included more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images with “large quantities of commercial pornography and images that were seized from Epstein’s devices, but which he did not take.”

He added that all women other than associate and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, had been redacted from videos and images so as to not jeopardize any ongoing investigations or expose the identities of personal details about potential victims.

The Justice Department released more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, more than two months after the deadline, bringing the total number of pages made public to 3.5 million. (Courtesy: Justice Department)

Blanche said during an interview with anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that the DOJ “took great pains” to make sure victims were protected.

“Every time we hear from a victim or their lawyer that they believe that their name was not properly redacted, we immediately rectify that,” he said, adding that the errors only impact “about .001% of all the materials.”

Lawyers argued it was “never a complex undertaking” and that the DOJ “has possessed the names of victims that it promised to redact for months.”

“There is no conceivable degree of institutional incompetence sufficient to explain the scale, consistency, and persistence of the failures that occurred,” attorneys wrote. “This Court is the last line of defense for victims who were promised protection and instead were exposed. Judicial intervention is not merely appropriate—it is essential.”