On April 26, 2026, independent journalist Katie Phang filed a lawsuit against then Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The Act, which was instituted on November 19, 2025, in order to produce all documents, files, records, videos, and images related to the investigation and prosecution of both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, in summary, dictates that the files must redact any personal identifying information of all victims, must not redact information based on “reputational harm” of non-victims, and that all files must be released “not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.”
As of today, it has been 209 days since the release of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. We still do not have all the files, as stated by former Attorney General Pam Bondi in her deposition.
“...Congress can go in and see for themselves the 6 million pages versus why 3 million was released, and much of it was...completely unrelated to Jeffrey Epstein.” - Pam Bondi
And yet these documents were contained in the Epstein Files.
Bondi also clearly states that she “delegated the oversight over [the Epstein Files] to [then] Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch.” Blanche, Donald Trump’s on-time defense attorney in the Stormy Daniels case—for which Trump would be charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the 1st degree—has often stated that there is no “client list,” and no credible evidence of blackmail against Epstein’s wealthy colleagues and friends.
“The joint statement by the DOJ and FBI of July 6 remains as accurate today as it was when it was written. Namely, that in the recent thorough review of the files maintained by the FBI in the Epstein case, no evidence was uncovered that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” - Todd Blanche, July 7, 2025
Seventeen days later, Blanche would sit down with Ghislaine Maxwell to deliver the proffer that would eventually lead to her upgrade to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas, complete with pets and Pilates.
But a damning piece in the New York Times showed this wasn’t a casual move toward transparency, but in response to a panicked sit-down in the Situation Room—normally delegated for wars and terrorist takedowns—in which Trump’s “most senior advisors” frantically game-planned their next move in the suppression of the files, and namely Donald Trump’s role within them. JD Vance mused that an interview with Tucker Carlson and Maxwell might relieve the pressure on the President. Blanche offered to interview her himself, stating that they could publicly release the transcript, which “might help the President if Maxwell was willing to state that Trump had not been part of any wrongdoing with Epstein.” It’s not known whether Carlson was offered the job, though my guess is he’d say no. Either way, one week later Blanche sat down for a two-day proffer—usually used in exchange for limited immunity or plea bargaining—in which she gave them exactly what they needed.
“And as far as I’m concerned, President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. And I just want to say that I find - I - I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the President now. And I like him, and I’ve always liked him. So that is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him.” - Ghislaine Maxwell
One week later, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, typically “designed to hold short-term offenders with average sentences of five years or less,” and which rarely houses sex offenders. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for sex-trafficking minors.
But how exactly has Attorney General Todd Blanche violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act? And how often? With 3.5 million files, it’s hard to know. But all it takes is a simple search on the DOJ’s website to find simple examples where survivors are exposed, and their abusers are protected.
In Ghislaine Maxwell’s proffer, alone, we see examples of missed redactions, including a Jane Doe who was, in her own words, “clearly underage, clearly a child.” Maxwell names the child, who is not redacted in the audio file, nor in the transcript. And after redacting another victim’s name, she states multiple times that the victim was dating “Tony Figueroa.” This immediately ID’d the victim as Virgina (Roberts) Giuffre. Another time, in the audio and transcript, it clear states: “Vir... [REDACTED],” again identifying the victim as Giuffre.
Unredacted Survivors
Unfortunately these missed redactions are a common occurrence in the files, and the girls’ personal information, location, and other identifying markers often get exposed. On January 31st, 2026, a day after the latest release of files, independent journalist Aaron Parnas discovered a stack of documents (EFTA01308844) that contained 46 pages of victims, all under the age of 18, with drivers licenses, passports, and photographs. He reported it to the DOJ immediately and the documents were redacted. Other files included Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) that hadn’t been redacted. Independent journalists and teams immediately shut down all research, removing any documents from their hard drives, and contacted the DOJ.
On May 12th, a former Uzbek model named Roza came forward to speak to the House Oversight Committee at a field hearing in West Palm Beach, stating that her name had been released in the files over 500 times without her permission.
“I stepped forward along other survivors, hoping those who allow this to happen would be held accountable. I kept my identity protected as ‘Jane Doe.’ I woke up one day with my name mentioned over 500 times. While the rich and powerful remain protected by redaction, my name was exposed to the world. Now reporters from across the globe contact me. I cannot live without looking over my shoulder. I can only imagine the long-term impact this mistake will have on my life.” - Roza
There are hundreds and thousands of examples in the files, where survivors were ignored or discounted, exposing them to further harm. This includes nude photos of survivor Juliette Bryant (EFTA00246949), the interview of Jean-Luc Brunel’s bookkeeper (EFTA01111413)—which includes a list of South American girls, ages 13, 14, and 15—and emails exposing survivors’ names.
Reputational Redactions
But as specifically called out in the Epstein Files Transparency Act, there are also thousands upon thousands of instances where Epstein’s colleagues and friends, powerful people in the world of finance, academia, film, journalism, and global politics, quietly walked away after bad, and often abusive, behavior. Sometimes it was illicit emails about torture or sex abuse...
...other times, redacted lists of co-conspirators...
...and very often financial transactions between Epstein and those of his friends who paid for massages from underage girls.
Epstein, himself, is often redacted out of his own files. Your guess is as good as mine.
Missing Files
Sometimes, as armchair investigators, we can see where we’re purposely being left out of the fray, where files are missing or pulled, leaving a gaping hole. In the case of Jane Doe 4, the story of a young girl out of Hilton Head, NC, journalists at NPR were able to discover 53 missing pages, including 302s (FBI interviews) and notes related to a case of abuse from the 1980s that involved now-President Donald Trump. The DOJ would later release 16 pages of the missing files, but 37 have never come to light.
Easter Eggs
In other cases, files are pulled but leave a trail. For example, nearly every email in the Epstein files contains a duplicate, a funny HTML-coded version with letters crossed out or replaced by equals signs that make it hard for the DOJ, themselves, to search for the document. If you find one of these without its accompanying clean, easy-to-read version, consider yourself lucky. This is the ultimate Epstein Files Easter egg, and usually contains vital information about people and things we’re not supposed to read.
The Lost Years
But the most blaring erasure of the Epstein files has to do with a specific period of time, when emails and digital communication became common sense, and Epstein forged his greatest friendship prior to landing in the Palm Beach lockup. In 1993 we were discovering the phrase “You’ve Got Mail,” with approximately 5 million Americans sending emails every day. Four years later it was upwards of 20 million, and by the year 2008, 81% of us used email as our main means of communication. And yet, if you begin to search in the Epstein files, or at least what we’ve been handed, there are very few emails sent prior to 2008. It’s as if they don’t exist.
What happened before 2008? Scheduling for three-dozen underage girls abused in Palm Beach. The receipt-less purchase of Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse from Leslie Wexner. Epstein’s $1 million loan to Jean-Luc Brunel to buy MC2 Models. The purchase of Little Saint James, and the scheduling of dozens of flights back and forth to the island with friends, businessmen, and young girls. And fifteen years of friendship with the future President of the United States.
When Pam Bondi declared that Todd Blanche had full control over the Epstein investigation since the very beginning, she may have struck the proverbial final nail in the coffin of the DOJ, no longer able to hide the lies behind empty binders and FBI memoranda. But there is nothing written into the Epstein Files Transparency Act to indicate a consequence for violations. This isn’t an accident. When Donald Trump signed the Act into law on November 19th, he did so with the full support and backing of the DOJ, quietly led by his former defense attorney Todd Blanche.
And so we wait for the removal of all unlawful redactions. We highlight the need of more survivor redactions. We note the missing files, conversations, and years. And we count the days since the timer went off on December 19th, 2025, the statutory deadline according to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Mr. President, you signed your name. Now release the damn files.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act
Katie Phang v. Todd Blanche
Ellie is an author, editor, and independent journalist focusing on survivor justice. She lives with her family just outside of New York City.
Unbelievable!
You mean after all these years of EVERYONE showing the archival footage of Trump and Epstein “ogling teenagers” that no one has filtered the audio so we can hear what the f*ck Trump and Epstein said! 🤬
The Republicans party is riddled with pedophiles and corruption! How are we supposed to trust any of our Republicans leaders. They are protecting pedophiles because they have money!!! They are putting women and children in danger from sexual predators by protecting these men and women in the Epstein files!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬