The Justice Department has released the names of dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, including many who have not publicly shared their identities or were minors when they were abused by the notorious sex offender.
A photo of Jeffrey Epstein that was included in the latest release of the Epstein files by the Justice Department.A review of the full names of 47 people on Sunday found that 43 of them were not redacted in the file that was released by the government on Friday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The woman’s full name appeared more than 100 times in the files.
The Justice Department must redact the names of all victims before releasing the files. Officials said they spent weeks doing this after receiving a list of names from victims’ attorneys. From Friday, the agency is temporarily withdrawing the documents to make new revisions.
On Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch told ABC News that the agency took care to protect victims and would remove their names if notified. “Whenever we hear from a victim or their advocate that they believe their name has not been corrected correctly, we correct it immediately,” he said, adding that the errors affect “001% of all materials.”
More than two dozen minor victims were named in the filings, according to the Journal’s analysis. Their full names were found in a Justice Department keyword search Sunday afternoon, along with personally identifying details that could be easily identified, including their home addresses.
Some missing corrections are unusual. For example, in a 2008 email in which US attorneys were discussing a list of victims they were to contact, 10 names were redacted and one in the middle of the list was released.
Another 2016 document shows a long list of women being identified as Epstein’s victims. Only one name is redacted in the list and the rest of the first and last names are public.
In a 2014 email exchange between a victim and the male modeling scout who recruited her into Epstein’s network, the scout’s email address is redacted while the victim’s is not correctly corrected.
The revelations raise questions about the government’s compliance with the Epstein File Transparency Act, which required redaction of victims’ identities.
A Justice Department spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
Brad Edwards and Brittany Henderson, attorneys who represent Epstein’s victims, said they provided a list of 350 victims to the Justice Department on Dec. 4 to ensure names would be redacted before release. They said on Sunday they were concerned that the government had not conducted a basic keyword search of victims’ names to verify the success of its redaction process.
Edwards said he contacted Justice Department officials Friday to express concerns. He said the DOJ expects victims to sift through the millions of files, find every instance of their personal information released and submit redaction requests with links to the files. In some cases, he said individuals have had to locate and submit more than 100 links to the DOJ to request that their names be redacted.
“We notified them of the problem within an hour of release,” Edwards said. “This has been recognized as a serious error; there is no excuse for failing to remedy it immediately unless it was deliberate.”
Several victims told the Journal that the process was re-traumatizing, forcing them to relive their abuse while scrambling to prevent their identities from spreading online. X’s media outlets and influencers have begun releasing the women’s names. Victims say they have been harassed online since the documents were released.
Anouska Di Georgiou, an Epstein victim who testified against Ghislaine Maxwell at his federal trial, said she contacted the Justice Department this weekend after her personal information, including a photo of her driver’s license, was made public in the release.
“Much of the information disclosed was taken from notes taken by federal agents in preparation for my testimony,” he said. “I cooperated with the United States government when it asked for my help, and now it has failed me—and other survivors—in a blatant disregard for the safety, security, and well-being of victims of such crimes.”
Some of Epstein’s other victims who served as his assistants said their email exchanges—which contain expressions of gratitude or affection that they say Epstein claimed—are now being circulated on social media by people who are unaware the women are victims.
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com and Brian Whitton at brian.whitton@wsj.com
