Survivors are ‘nervous and sceptical’ about partial Epstein file release

The release of thousands of pages of documents related to the abuse of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has disappointed some who have been anxiously awaiting the files.

The release of the documents came after Congress ordered the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to make materials about Epstein’s crimes publicly available. However, many edits have been made to some documents, while others have never been made public.

Lawmakers pushing for these documents to come to light said the release was incomplete and called the Justice Department’s efforts insincere.

Some legal experts also warned that the extent of the redaction could only fuel ongoing conspiracy theories.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche said Friday (the same day the materials were released) that the department had identified more than 1,200 Epstein victims or relatives and withheld materials that could identify them.

The latest information released includes a photo of Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell outside Downing Street, a document alleging that Epstein introduced a 14-year-old girl to US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and numerous photographs of former President Bill Clinton.

At least 15 of the released files were no longer available on the DOJ website as of Saturday, according to CBS, the BBC’s US media partner.

According to CBS, many framed photographs can be seen on a table in one of the missing files. Bill Clinton was in the photos, and another was of the Pope. In an open drawer was a photo of Trump, Epstein and Maxwell.

Other missing files included photographs of a room that appeared to be a massage table, nude photographs and nude paintings.

It was not clear why the files were no longer available.

“Photos and other materials will continue to be reviewed and edited in accordance with the law with the greatest care as we receive additional information,” the Justice Department wrote in a post on

The BBC has sought comment from the Ministry of Justice.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding Epstein and has not been accused of any wrongdoing by Epstein’s victims. Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing by survivors of Epstein’s abuse and has denied knowledge of his sexual crimes.

Other published photographs include the interiors of Epstein’s homes, his travels abroad, as well as celebrities such as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Peter Mandelson.

The presence of his name or picture in the files does not mean that it constitutes a crime. Most of those identified in the files or in previous releases about Epstein have denied any wrongdoing.

However, many of the documents have also been heavily redacted.

The Justice Department said it would comply with a congressional request to release the documents under certain conditions.

It redacted personal information about Epstein’s victims, material depicting child sexual abuse, material depicting physical abuse, any records that would “compromise an active federal investigation,” or any classified documents that must remain secret to protect “national defense or foreign policy.”

The Ministry of Justice said “no politicians’ names were changed” and added a quote attributed to Blanche: “The only redactions applied to the documents are those required by law – period.

“In accordance with the law and applicable laws, we do not remove the names of individuals or politicians unless they are victims.”

Criminal defense lawyer John Day told the BBC he was surprised by the amount of information redacted.

“If you’re a conspiracy theorist, this will just add fuel to the fire,” he said. “I don’t think anyone predicted there would be this many fixes. It certainly raises questions about how faithfully the Justice Department is following the law.”

Mr. Day also said the justice department must provide Congress with a record of the corrections within 15 days of the files being released.

“You don’t know what’s being withheld until you know what’s been edited,” he said.

“The victim’s privacy concerns counsel in favor of redacting the faces of women in photographs with Epstein, even though not all women are known to be victims, it is impractical for the department to identify every person in a photograph,” Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a letter to judges overseeing the Epstein and Maxwell cases.

Clayton added that “this approach to the photographs may be viewed by some as over-redaction,” but that he “believes the department had to err on the side of proofreading to protect victims within the compressed time frame.”

Survivors of Epstein’s abuses are among those most disappointed by the release.

Marina Lacerda, who was 14 when she was abused by Epstein, told the BBC that she and other survivors had been waiting a long time for the files to be released.

“We’re a little disappointed that they’re still going on and distracting us with other things,” he said.

“Some of the survivors are still nervous and skeptical about how to release the rest of the files. We are very worried that this will be fixed as it is today.”

Epstein survivor Liz Stein told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that she thought the Ministry of Justice was “really brazenly defying the Epstein Files Transparency Act”, the law requiring all documents to be released.

He noted that survivors were genuinely concerned about the possibility of “incomplete information being slowly disseminated without any context.”

“We want all the evidence of these crimes to be there.”

Baroness Helena Kennedy, a human rights lawyer and Labor member of the House of Lords in the UK, said she was told the redactions to the documents were made to protect victims.

“The authorities are always concerned about exposing people to further public humiliation,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.

Many of Epstein’s survivors seem “very eager” for the material to be released, he said, but added that “they might not be so keen if they knew exactly what was in it.”

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who along with Republican Congressman Thomas Massie led the charge for the release of the files, said the release was “incomplete” and added that he was looking at options such as impeachment, contempt or prosecution.

“Our law requires them to disclose redactions,” Khanna said. “There is no single explanation.”

Massie supported Khanna’s statement and shared on social media that Attorney General Pam Bondi and other justice department officials could be sued by future justice departments for failing to comply with documentation requirements.

He said the release of the document “substantially violates both the spirit and the letter” of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Following the announcement, the White House called the Trump administration the “most transparent administration in history” and added that this administration “has done more for victims than Democrats have ever done.”

In an interview with ABC News, Blanche was asked if all documents mentioning Trump in the so-called Epstein files would be released in the coming weeks.

“Yes, assuming it’s legal,” Blanche said. “So there’s no effort to hold anything back because there’s the Donald J Trump name or anyone else’s name, Bill Clinton’s name, Reid Hoffman’s name.

“There is no effort to hold back or not hold back because of that.”

“We are not removing the names of famous men and women associated with Epstein,” he added.

Additional reporting by Jaroslav Lukiv