A week after the release of the latest tranche of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, scrutiny of the powerful people named in them has intensified, as the Department of Justice said it was working to correct mistakes in redaction that left the identities of many abuse victims exposed.
In a letter on Thursday to federal judges in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the Justice Department said its personnel were "working around the clock to run additional searches for documents that may require additional redaction."
DOJ acknowledged "victims and victim counsel have identified new victims and new identifiers (such as nicknames, email addresses, and family names), which are then routed into additional searches by the Department to identify documents that may require further redaction."
Epstein victims angry over unredacted names
The letter comes after some of Epstein's victims have expressed anger after being unintentionally identified due to redaction errors by the Department of Justice, which sought to hide their information by blacking out names, emails and faces from photos and video.
In some cases, names required by law to be hidden often appeared in whole or in part in the documents, with the first names and last names appearing in separate documents, making identification easy. The Justice Department subsequently removed access to some pages and Freedom of Information Act documents that had initially been published.
Annie Farmer, who has been outspoken about Epstein and the abuse she experienced, spoke with NPR's Scott Detrow on "All Things Considered" after the files were released.
"If you see some of these documents where there will be a list of 50 names and one is redacted, you know, there's just no explanation for how it could have been done so poorly" Farmer said.
"They've had victims' names for a very long time. I don't think this is just about rushing to get this information out. It feels like they want us to give up on transparency, and it's extremely problematic how they've gone about doing this."
Farmer said the accusers will not give up on their calls for transparency.
Danielle Bensky, who spoke to NPR last year about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Epstein, is one of many victims whose name was left unredacted in some parts of the latest document dump. Bensky said on NewsNation the Justice Department's handling of the case was "egregious."
The most recent document release included some 3 million pages, thousands of videos and images, although many are duplicative. The Justice Department said that would be the final release of files though Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche admitted millions of pages of files have yet to be released.
Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, which required the Justice Department to release all documents related to Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. President Trump, whose name appears hundreds of times in the files, signed the legislation into law.
Trump: Time to move on
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, the president said he thought it was "time for the country to get on to something else, really. Now that nothing came out about me."
Blanche indicated that no new criminal charges are likely. Appearing in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing.
Maxwell was subpoenaed last month to sit for a deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 9.
Among other prominent names that appear in the files is former President Bill Clinton. The files include a summary of unsubstantiated allegations against both Trump and Clinton. Those claims include accusations of sexual assault and abuse of girls and women.
Clinton is expected to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 27 to testify in connection with the Epstein investigation along with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who does not appear in the files. They initially resisted subpoenas from the committee, but ultimately agreed earlier this week to testify.
The newly released files show that many high-profile individuals maintained contact with Epstein years after he initially pleaded guilty to sexual offenses in Florida related to prostitution and solicitation of a minor in 2008, charges for which he served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a minimum security facility with extensive work release. Epstein then registered as a sex offender.
Files reveal names of the rich and famous
Elon Musk exchanged several emails with Epstein about possible meetings, including a back-and-forth trying to firm up a date in early 2014 for Musk to visit Epstein at his private island in the Caribbean, although it is not clear if any of the meetings ever took place.
Former Prince Andrew, the brother of Britain's King Charles III, has also been in the spotlight again, denying accusations of sexual assault connected to Epstein. In the latest release, Andrew is seen in a photo kneeling over a woman lying on the floor — apparently at Epstein's Manhattan residence. The former prince has already been stripped of his title and royal duties because of his ties to Epstein.
Self-help author Deepak Chopra kept up an email correspondence up until a few months before Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2019. In one exchange from 2017, Epstein asks "find me a cute Israeli blonde," to which Chopra responds: "I can/Warning: They are militant aggressive and [very] sexy."
In another exchange from 2016, Chopra asks in apparent relation to a suit by one of Epstein's alleged victims: "Did she also drop civil suit against you?" Epstein replies: "yup" to which Chopra responds "Good. See you this Sat 230 PM ?"
In a post on X on Wednesday, Chopra said he was "deeply saddened by the suffering" of Epstein's victims and condemned abuse. He acknowledged that some of the email exchanges reflected "poor judgement" and that he regretted them.
I am deeply saddened by the suffering of the victims in this case, and I unequivocally condemn abuse and exploitation in all forms.
— Deepak Chopra (@DeepakChopra) February 4, 2026
I want to be clear: I was never involved in, nor did I participate in, any criminal or exploitative conduct. Any contact I had was limited and…
Brad Karp, of the law firm Paul Weiss, also resigned his post as chairman of the firm after email exchanges between him and Epstein became public. Karp said the issue had become a distraction for the firm, although he continues to work there.
Epstein — a self-described "science philanthropist" who gave substantial sums of money to institutions such as Harvard, MIT and the University of Chicago — also maintained contact with many leading scientists and academics. One, former physics professor, author and podcaster Lawrence Krauss helped organize conferences for other scientists and researchers in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In 2006, one such gathering, titled "Confronting Gravity," boasted three Nobel laureates and Stephen Hawking as attendees. It promised that scientists "could meet, discuss, relax on the beach, and take a trip to the nearby private island retreat of the science philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein, who funded the event."
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