DOJ guidance for redacting victim information in Epstein files, March 2025

Epstein Transparency Project IMD Processing Guidance¶

3/21/2025, 11am¶

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EFTA00172329¶

Epstein Project Processing Guidance¶

• Victim Information:

• Redact identified names and PII of victims on approved list

• First name only in file; list has first / last:

  • REDACT: If context on page lists as victim

• First / last in file; list only has first name:¶

• REDACT: If context on page lists as victim¶

• First name only in file; list has only has first name:

  • REDACT

• Obvious misspellings of names in file¶

• REDACT¶

Notes:¶

2¶

EFTA00172330¶

Epstein Project Processing Guidance¶

• Only victim photos located with associated PII will be redacted

• Examples: drivers licenses, passports, social media, other documents about the victim that contain their photo

• If nude pictures of victims are located, redact the victim’s entire body

• If victim is clothed, only redact the victim’s face

• All other photos will be released in full

• Yearbooks, in full or in part: release in full

Notes:¶

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EFTA00172331¶

Epstein Project Processing Guidance¶

Precision PII To Redact:¶

• Full Name / Former Names / Alias¶

• Date of Birth¶

• Passport Number¶

• Home (Street) Address

• Not city/state

• Email Address

• Social Media IDs/Handle¶

• Home / Cell Phone Number¶

• Social Security Number (SSN)

• Driver’s License Number¶

• Specific Financial Information (Account Numbers)

• Taxpayer Identification Number

• Credit Card Numbers

• Medical Identification Numbers

Notes:¶

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EFTA00172332¶

Epstein Project Processing Guidance¶

• FBI / DOJ personnel names only

• No PII

• REDACT Names: Agents, IAs, support personnel, TFOs, AUSAs

• SES: release title and name¶

• A list of releasable names will be provided

• Use context within page to make SES vs. non-SES determination

• No other third party names or PII will be redacted

Notes:¶

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EFTA00172333¶

Epstein Project Processing Guidance¶

• Adobe will pre-scan for victim names; do a manual scan on all typed pages to verify.

• PLEASE focus on handwritten notes, the auto-redact function will not pick up redactions in the handwriting

• Precise boxes must be drawn around the name and authorized PII

• No taking out entire chunks

• Do not add any exemptions; just redaction boxes

• Do NOT redact classification banners. This is being sent on a classified enclave.

Notes:¶

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EFTA00172334¶

1. Access the email and download the notepad file (victims list)

2. Download the ‘Epstein Vic Identifiers-Final-Combined-DeDeuped.txt document (save to a location you’ll remember)

3. Select ‘Download’

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You will create a user folder within the new path shown below; link will be sent in an email form IMD Admin¶

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1. Reference the 1- Working folder

2. Right click within the folder and select New

3. Select Folder

4. Enter Bureau username

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1. Double click into your created folder

2. Right click the assigned PDF within the folder

3. Hover over Open With

4. Select Adobe Acrobat 2020

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EFTA00172338¶

First Step: Confirm OCR Was Run on PDF¶

1. The first step with each new document is to confirm OCR was run on the PDF

2. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat

3. Press the “Ctrl” and “F” buttons on your keyboard simultaneously to open the search function

4. Identify any word on the first page and enter it into the blank field

5. If no results are returned, you will need to run OCR

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EFTA00172339¶

Run OCR If Not Previously Completed¶

1. Click “Tools” at the top of the page.

2. Click “Scan or OCR”

3. Click “Recognize Text” and “In this file” in the banner.

4. Click the blue “Recognize Text” button.

Recognize Text¶

5. The OCR process will start.

6. Press ‘Save’ when finished.

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EFTA00172340¶

Prepare to import the victim list .txt document¶

1. Select Redact from right column

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EFTA00172341¶

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EFTA00172342¶

1. Select ‘Do not show this message again’ if user does not want to see this popup when opening subsequent PDFs

2. Select ‘OK’

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EFTA00172343¶

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EFTA00172344¶

1. Select ‘Import’

2. Select the file Epstein Search Terms.txt that you downloaded in Slide 1

3. Select ‘Open’

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EFTA00172345¶

1. Terms from the ‘Epstein Vic Identifiers-Final-Combined-Deduped’ file have now been imported

2. Select ‘Whole words only’

[DO NOT select ‘Case-Sensitive’)]¶

3. Select ‘OK’

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EFTA00172346¶

1. Once the import is complete, users must conduct a line-by-line review of all redactions to confirm validity

The Auto-Redactor is performing a String search. It may not pick up all variations of a name. Users must use contextual analysis to determine which names should or shouldn’t be redacted.¶

e. g., in this context is an FBI employee and should not be redacted.¶

Mark for Redaction ✅ Apply Properties Remove Hidden Information Sanitize Document¶

50D-NY-3027571 Serial 1¶

Obvious misspellings of victim’s names should be redacted¶

UNCLASSIFIED¶

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION¶

Electronic Communication¶

Case ID #:	31E-NY-2027571	(U) EPSTEIN, JEFFREY; CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING
	31E-MM-109062	(U) EPSTEIN, JEFFREY PELLEN,

Synopsis: (U) To request case be opened and assigned.¶

Details:¶

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EFTA00172347¶

1. If a redacted term was incorrect, right click the redaction¶

2. Select ‘Delete’

Users can also delete via clicking the redaction and selecting ‘Delete’ on your keyboard¶

Note: If multiple reactions on a single page need removed, hold the Ctrl key and select all applicable redaction boxes¶

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After finalizing your line-by-line review, users need to save a copy of the document.¶

1. Select ‘File’

2. Select ‘Save As…’

3. Select ‘OK’ to the popup that appears

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4. Select the

‘20250321’ Folder¶

in the File Explorer¶

5. Select ‘2-Done’

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6. The file name will auto-populate

DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE NAME¶

7. Select ‘Save’

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EFTA00172351¶

After you have saved the PDF to the 2-Done folder, you must delete the PDF from the 1-Working folder.¶

1. Select the folder path ‘1-Working’ → your folder name

2. Right click the PDF file

3. Select the Trashcan icon to delete

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EFTA00172352¶

• Please ensure your work item is completed before you leave at the end of your shift.

• Shift Change Information¶

• (No work item) When your shift ends, you have finished your work item, your folder is empty, and you are preparing to leave, add “New Folder” in front of your name, i.e., “New Folder MTGOODE”.

• Please make sure you have a capital N for New and capital F for Folder. Also, make sure a space is between Folder and username. Once this is done, you will no longer receive files.

• (Work item in folder) When your shift ends and you have a file that needs to be reassigned, leave it in your folder, add “_reassign” to it.

• i.e., “MTGOODE_reassign”. Once this is done, your work item will be picked up for reassignment.

• If you have saved the file to the appropriate folders because you finished processing, delete it before leaving.

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