The FBI has redacted President Donald Trump’s name from the notorious Jeffrey Epstein files, sources familiar with the matter told reporters.
The bureau’s FOIA team blacked out Trump and other public figures before higher-ups concluded that releasing the documents “would not be appropriate or warranted.”
The files include grand jury testimony, prosecutor case files, and tens of thousands of investigative records spanning nearly two decades.
DOJ and FBI officials applied FOIA exemptions to justify the redactions.
Exemption 6 shields individuals from “a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” while Exemption 7(C) protects personal information in law enforcement records.
“The appearance of Trump’s name or others in the Epstein files is not evidence of a crime or even a suggestion of wrongdoing,” a source said.
The decision sparked fury among Trump supporters, who saw the redactions as a deliberate cover-up, per Bloomberg News.
Pam Bondi, who currently serves as attorney general, criticized the move last year.
“If people in that report are still fighting to keep their names private, they have no legal basis to do so, unless they’re a child, a victim, or a cooperating defendant,” she said.
Bondi previously hosted a public event to release roughly 200 pages of