CNN - FBI’s weekend homework: Redact the Epstein Files

By Evan Perez and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
Published 10:00 AM EDT, Sat March 22, 2025



FBI agents are working around the clock – some in 12-hour overnight shifts – on a frenzied mission this week.

The urgent work isn’t an impending national security threat, but instead reviewing documents and other evidence in the investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to make redactions before the Justice Department releases them publicly, according to people familiar with the situation.

The frantic effort is trying to solve a problem largely of the White House’s own making: Trump allies spent months fanning conspiracies over Epstein’s suicide death and whether the government was holding on to information that could expose prominent people who may have been in involved in his alleged crimes.

Last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi touted the release of Epstein files, which was met with derision from Trump’s MAGA supporters who expected to learn new information and were underwhelmed by what they saw.

Agents have been ordered to set aside investigations, including some related to threats from China and Iran, to help complete the redactions, people briefed on the matter say.

Every division in the bureau has been ordered to provide agents to the cause, including those who work on criminal and national security matters. This weekend, agents in the Washington field office are spending hours on redaction duty, people briefed on the matter say.

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