Epstein Victims Demand Shutdown of Justice Department Website

Epstein victims are demanding the immediate shutdown of the U.S. Department of Justice’s public website hosting millions of documents from the high-profile Jeffrey Epstein case, following the inadvertent release of their names. A federal judge in Manhattan is set to hear arguments on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, regarding a potential temporary injunction. Attorneys representing nearly 100 survivors stated in a Sunday, February 1, 2026 letter that the failure to redact identifying information has upended their lives ‘at their core.’ U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi acknowledged in a Monday court filing that the DOJ worked over the weekend to withdraw thousands of documents and multimedia files containing accidental victim identifiers, attributing the breach to technical or human error. Bondi, along with Deputy AG Todd Blanche and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, confirmed affected files would undergo additional redaction and be re-posted within 24–36 hours. The controversy follows Friday’s public release of roughly 3 million documents, images, videos, and other case-related materials—mandated under a November law requiring strict victim anonymity. The victims’ attorneys also requested appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the redaction process, calling the situation ‘an unfolding emergency requiring immediate judicial intervention.’ They emphasized: ‘For Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, every hour matters. The harm is ongoing and irreversible.’ The motion was addressed to Judges Richard Berman (who oversaw Epstein’s original case) and Paul Engelmayer (overseeing Ghislaine Maxwell’s case).