The Justice Department's release of the so-called Epstein files has gone pretty much as skeptics warned. The feds published another three million pages on Friday. Such investigatory materials are usually kept private to protect innocent victims and witnesses -- a lesson that Congress will now relearn at their expense.
Though the Justice Department sought to redact sensitive information, Congress mandated disclosure in 30 days. The Journal reports that last week's documents initially failed to black out the names of at least 43 victims of Jeffrey Epstein, "including many who haven't shared their identities publicly or were minors when they were abused by the notorious sex offender." Some of their addresses or email addresses were posted.
The files also included "dozens of unredacted nude images," showing the faces and bodies of "young women or possibly teenagers," the New York Times said. The Justice Department scrambled to fix the oversights. "You're talking about pieces of paper that stack from the ground to two Eiffel Towers," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News. "We knew that there would be mistakes."
Meantime, heinous accusations are circulating against prominent people, without any evidence they're true. Since Epstein died in 2019, prosecutors have had time to chase real leads. The Epstein emails that show elites privately cozying up to a wealthy sex offender are embarrassing, but the government isn't supposed to be in the business of posting scandalous raw evidence without a verifiable criminal case.
"There are allegations in there that, with 10 or 15 minutes of work, you can realize have no basis in fact," Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, told CNBC. Protecting accusers, he said, matters for prosecuting future offenders since it's "very, very difficult to get victims to come forward in these types of situations."
Congress can't fob off blame for the redaction errors after it set an impossible deadline. If lawmakers have a vestigial sense of shame, they can apologize to the victims whose information was posted. The brave exception is Republican Rep. Clay Higgins, the only member of Congress who voted against this document dump because it "abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure" and "will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt."
Apparently, neither the Biden Administration nor the Trump Administration was able to bring new charges against Epstein's associates. Yet figures on both political sides have found it useful to engage in cheap posturing, claiming a government coverup. In the frenzy, innocent people are getting hurt.