Judge orders DOJ to produce, unredact sought after Epstein files [View all]
Source: The Hill
06/25/26 6:49 PM ET
On Thursday, a federal judge based in Washington, D.C., ordered the Justice Department to unredact additional pages of the Epstein files in a suit brought by attorney and independent journalist Katie Phang.
The preliminary injunction orders redactions be removed in key documents of interest in the files, including “at least eight email exchanges with Mr. Epstein regarding a ‘torture video’ and sexual activity with young women, including minors” as well as interviews with a woman who said she was abused by President Trump as a minor.
“The Attorney General’s arguments are unpersuasive. First, Ms. Phang has identified ‘some concrete consequences of not receiving the information.’ She has identified ‘half a dozen stories she is currently unable to report’ because the Attorney General has not disclosed the information,” U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan wrote in a decision that also found Phang had a right to bring the case under the Administrative Procedures Act.
He also rebuffed the idea that Phang could have simply requested the documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), noting that the department itself had previously said the Epstein Files Transparency Act “directed a much broader and less redacted release of the files than would have been made under the FOIA. Certain exemptions which may have been made under FOIA were not made” in the Epstein Act release. The Justice Department must either produce the documents or “show cause” as to why they cannot comply.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5941665-doj-epstein-files-lawsuit/
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.291779/gov.uscourts.dcd.291779.15.0.pdf
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