Lawmakers to Access Unredacted Epstein Files

Members of Congress will be allowed to review unredacted Department of Justice files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein beginning Monday morning, according to an NBC News report that cited two people familiar with the plan.

NBC News reported that access to the material will be limited to lawmakers and conducted under controlled conditions, with restrictions expected on copying, photographing, or removing the documents.

The move follows years of pressure from lawmakers and victims' advocates who have argued that redactions in previously released Epstein-related records obscured key facts and slowed efforts to identify individuals who may have enabled or participated in Epstein's crimes.

Justice Department officials have said redactions were necessary to protect victims, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying at a recent Justice Department briefing that the files required "significant redactions" to prevent identifying women who were victims of Epstein's abuse.

Blanche said the department was attempting to balance transparency with privacy protection, adding that "we are not going to retraumatize victims by exposing their identities," according to accounts of the briefing reported by NBC affiliates.

Survivors' advocates have criticized how the redactions were handled, with a coalition of Epstein survivors saying in a public statement that "once again, survivors are being exposed while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected."

Attorneys representing Epstein victims said in court filings that the Justice Department made "thousands of redaction failures," arguing that identifying information for nearly 100 survivors was left visible and turned victims' lives "upside down," according to reporting on those filings.

Some members of Congress have said the redactions were overdone and appeared designed to shield powerful or well-connected individuals from scrutiny, arguing that entire sections of documents were blacked out without sufficient explanation.

Other lawmakers and legal experts have said the redactions were applied incompletely and haphazardly, leaving partial names or contextual clues visible while concealing surrounding information, a process critics say created confusion rather than protecting sensitive details.

Victims' advocates have said inconsistent redactions have continued to complicate efforts to hold people accountable, arguing that fragmented records have made it harder to understand the full scope of Epstein's network and the roles others may have played.

Justice Department officials have defended their approach, with a department spokesperson saying the DOJ "takes victim protection very seriously" and is working to correct redaction errors as they are identified.

The Epstein files have remained a recurring flashpoint on Capitol Hill, with multiple committees requesting briefings and documents as lawmakers from both parties have accused federal authorities of mishandling aspects of the investigation and prosecution.

Epstein, a wealthy financier with ties to politicians, business leaders and foreign royalty, died by suicide in a federal jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, intensifying public skepticism over the government's handling of the case.

NBC News reported that it remains unclear whether lawmakers who view the unredacted files will be permitted to publicly discuss specific names or details contained in the records.