A CNN journalist digs through a 100-page Epstein document, and surprise — it’s as grim and twisted as you feared
The Department of Justice finally released part of the long-promised Epstein Files on Saturday, December 20. But as soon as the documents went online, television debates weren’t about what they revealed. Everyone was asking why this was released at all.
On CNN, Jake Tapper walked viewers through the reality of the Department of Justice’s so-called transparency effort on Dec. 20. What we saw was document after document, hundreds of pages long, yet it was functionally useless with near-total redaction. Shamelessly, they didn’t even try to make it look selective. It was just black boxes stacked on black boxes.
Tapper put it plainly while speaking with advocates and lawmakers reviewing the material. Some of the documents were “just 100 pages of redaction,” he showed the cameras. And quite literally, there wasn’t a partial or victim-protective redaction. The 100-page-long document was completely erased of any words or meaning.
This can not be excused by the DoJ’s performative language about protecting survivors. Because the document quite literally looks like someone spilled ink all over it. Clearly, someone is benefiting from that art project. So, the obvious question is, what information is actually being withheld? And who does it protect?
The newly released Epstein files are only 10% of what the DoJ has
That question was at the heart of the CNN panel discussion. It included Epstein survivor Annie Farmer, advocate Lauren Hirsch from World Without Exploitation, and Rep. Robert Garcia. All three of them uniformly agreed that survivors have never asked for secrecy. They have asked for accountability, which has been buried somewhere under those black boxes.
Hirsch, the national director of World Without Exploitation, made the distinction crystal clear. Survivors want identifying information protected. They do not want a blanket blackout that shields alleged abusers, enablers, or co-conspirators. Rep. Garcia also added something that quickly became obvious to anyone digging into the files.
He said, much of what was released isn’t new at all. It was court documents already in the public record, already-released surveillance footage, and transcripts previously circulated through congressional committees. According to Garcia, more than half of the release consists of recycled material dressed up as disclosure. And the small fraction of actually new documents is so heavily redacted that it raises more questions than clarity.
The DoJ didn’t explain what exactly was redacted
There’s no explanation for what was withheld and zero transparency about who authorized those redactions and on what basis. Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the DoJ was ordered to release all Epstein-related material in a searchable format. But it instead delivered a broken search tool and inaccessible files. Garcia estimates that the public has received as little as 10% of what the DOJ actually possesses.
At this point, the administration’s defense that redactions were made solely to protect victims is hard to believe. The problem is that no one outside the DOJ can verify what has been removed. And without that verification, there’s no way to know whether the redactions are shielding powerful names connected to Epstein’s operation. On top of it, releasing pages featuring only black boxes is like laughing in the face of survivors. As social media users argue, “What’s the point of it?”
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