Lawmakers who reviewed unredacted Epstein files blast DOJ over blacked-out names

Republican and Democratic lawmakers who reviewed unredacted Epstein files at the Justice Department said portions had been wrongly blacked out.

Some lawmakers are blasting the Justice Department over what they call "completely unnecessary redactions," including men's names, in the files the government released on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After reviewing unredacted versions of the Epstein files on Monday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said that "it's not explained yet why there might be certain redactions that have been made."

"So, I went over there, and I was able to determine, at least, I believe, that there were tons of completely unnecessary redactions in addition to the failure to redact the names of victims, and so that's troubling to us," Raskin said Monday.

"I saw the names of lots of people who were redacted for mysterious or baffling or inscrutable reasons," he said.

Since Monday, lawmakers have been able to review unredacted versions of the more than 3 million pages the DOJ recently released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Raskin complained there are just four computers in a DOJ satellite office where lawmakers can review the documents.