US Justice Department ‘intentionally exposing’ names of Jeffrey Epstein victims in document release, say lawyers

“I thought the government had promised to redact our names and identifying material. I don’t understand how this could happen again,” one victim told attorneys Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson of the law firm Edwards Henderson, according to a document filed in court on Wednesday.

‘Simply incomprehensible’

“This kind of negligence on the part of the government toward a survivor is simply incomprehensible,” said another woman involved in the case. “I don’t understand how this is possible.”

“These women are not political pawns. They are mothers, wives, and daughters. These are women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein, and in some instances by others, and who have already had their rights violated in the past by the Government,” the attorneys wrote in the filing to US District Judge Richard Berman.

“They are human beings who have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to feel safe and protected by our country, which has failed them time and time again.”

The lawyers also claimed that the victims believe the names were intentionally released by the DOJ.

The lawyers said they believed that the Department of Justice “does not know the identities of all of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and therefore cannot apply the appropriate redactions to the files,” or “is intentionally protecting the victims from public exposure.”

Judge seeks details of privacy process

Judge Berman on Wednesday ordered the DOJ to offer a detailed description of the materials it holds and also explain the privacy process it plans to employ to protect the privacy rights of Epstein’s survivors by December 1.

This comes even as the DOJ is legally mandated under the Epstein Files Transparency Act to make “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession” available in a searchable and downloadable format by December 19.