Inside the FBI’s Review and Redaction of Epstein Files
The communications released to FOIA Files provide a look behind the scenes as agents and other FBI personnel started to work on the Epstein files earlier this year.
Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during a news conference at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025.
Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPIWelcome to a special edition of FOIA Files. This morning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned over dozens of emails to me that reveal some details about how FBI agents and personnel from the Freedom of Information Act office reviewed and processed the Epstein files earlier this year. Let’s dive in! If you’re not already getting FOIA Files in your inbox, sign up here.
The legacy of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein continues to hang over national politics. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed legislation that required the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. Soon, the public may finally get to see at least some of what the government has in its voluminous cache, which comprises more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence from its criminal probe of the serial sex abuser. Getting to this point has been quite a winding path that started just after Trump took office—and that FOIA Files has been covering.