The Trump administration’s final tranche of Epstein files released to the public included dozens of unredacted nude images and photographs of young women’s faces, according to The New York Times.
Trump’s Justice Department had already blazed past the Dec. 19 deadline for release and come under fire for repeated failures to redact victims’ information when it uploaded the final materials Friday, making perhaps the most serious error yet. The Times reports that, in the process of poring over the 3 million newly released files, reporters found at least 40 images that appeared to contravene the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
As part of the law, which Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed in late November, the DOJ was obligated to omit sexually explicit imagery and anything that might identify victims. But seven different people were exposed in unredacted images uploaded Friday, according to The Times.
The Times noted that the females in the photographs appeared to be young, although it was unclear if any of them were minors. The snaps were taken in various places, including bedrooms. Some photographs appeared to show convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious island, Little St. James, the publication noted.
The paper officially raised the alarm on Saturday, and it flagged more images on Sunday. A spokeswoman said that the department was “working around the clock to address any victim concerns, additional redactions of personally identifiable information, as well as any files that require further redactions under the act, to include images of a sexual nature.”
“Once proper redactions have been made, any responsive documents will repopulate online,” the spokeswoman added. The Daily Beast has contacted the department for further comment.
The Times reported on Sunday that “officials have largely removed or redacted” the images that it flagged.
Annie Farmer, who testified in court about her alleged abuse at the hands of Epstein and his jailed accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, said the development was “extremely disturbing.”
“It’s hard to imagine a more egregious way of not protecting victims than having full nude images of them available for the world to download,” she told the Times.
After releasing the new tranche of files on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department had “completed” its review of the documents relating to the late Epstein.
“We’re releasing more than 3 million pages today, and not the 6 million pages that we collected,” Blanche said. “Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act.”
He added: “After submitting the final report to Congress, as required under the Act, and publishing the written justifications for redactions in the Federal Register, the department’s obligations under the Act will be completed.”
