Frustration is mounting at the Department of Justice as attorneys race to redact thousands of pages of records tied to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ahead of a congressionally mandated Friday deadline, CNN reported.
The outlet reported Thursday that department lawyers are under intense pressure to meet the deadline while navigating a massive document dump that includes grand jury material, FBI files, and internal DOJ communications.
Each lawyer is reportedly handling document sets that can exceed 1,000 pages, so redaction is labor-intensive and prone to last-minute complications.
CNN reported that extensive redactions are expected, citing concerns over executive and legal privilege, privacy protections, and safeguards for Epstein's victims.
Lawyers working on the files, many of them in DOJ's National Security Division, have also complained internally that they lack clear guidance on how much information should be released under the law.
According to CNN, attorneys have been given just four pages of internal guidance, much of which focuses on exemptions rather than disclosure.
The report said counterintelligence specialists were pulled from their regular duties to assist with the redaction effort, though some reportedly declined to participate.
Congress passed the transparency law requiring the release of Epstein-related documents after months of public pressure and criticism that federal authorities had failed to deliver accountability in the case.
The Trump administration is legally required to make the records public by Friday, though CNN noted that officials expect large portions of the material to remain blacked out.
That reality could fuel continued public skepticism.
CNN reported that legal experts are already bracing for complaints that the Department of Justice may redact too much information or make errors under the tight deadline.
One outside lawyer told the network that the department could either "screw it up" or withhold more information than necessary, whether by incompetence or design.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Dec. 9 that DOJ is working to be as transparent as possible, with redactions limited primarily to protecting victims' identities.
"We'll have everything that we've all been waiting to see, and we're going to make everything transparent that we can make," he said.
The logistical hurdles are significant. CNN reported that duplicate documents have not been removed from the cache, increasing the risk of inconsistent or incorrect redactions and adding hundreds of extra pages for lawyers to process.
The Department of Justice has faced criticism for redaction mistakes before. Earlier this year, during the release of tens of thousands of pages related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, private information — including Social Security numbers — was mistakenly disclosed.
The National Security Division inherited the redaction task from the FBI, a decision that surprised some legal observers, given the division's traditional focus on classified and intelligence matters rather than criminal sex-trafficking cases.
Still, sources told CNN the division has the manpower to handle large redaction projects.
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