DOJ says it pulled thousands of Epstein-related files from website over potential victim information

The Justice Department told two New York judges on Monday that it has taken down thousands of files related to the late-sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from its website that may have included victim-identifying information.

The revelation comes after the DOJ released its last batch of Epstein files last week, completing the massive months-long process that included examining millions of documents and media files. 

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton told the courts that the mistakes in publishing sensitive information regarding Epstein's victims were because of “technical or human error," and that the department has taken down nearly all materials identified by victims or their lawyers, along with a “substantial number” of documents identified by the government.

"As of the writing of this letter, all documents requested by victims or counsel to be removed by yesterday evening have been removed for further redaction, and the Department is continuing to process any new requests and to run its own searches to identify any other documents that may require further redaction," Clayton wrote, according to ABC News. 

The attorney said the department has “iteratively revised its protocols for addressing flagging documents” after victims formally requested changes to the process for review and redaction of posted records, the Associated Press reported.

“Every time we hear from a victim or their lawyer that they believe that their name was not properly redacted, we immediately rectified that," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC on Sunday. "And the numbers we’re talking about, just so the American people understand, we’re talking about .001 percent of all the materials."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.