FBI Reportedly Redacted Trump's Name In Epstein Files Due To Privacy Protections

An FBI team reportedly redacted Donald Trump's name from the Epstein files because of privacy protections, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Concretely, the outlet noted that team considered that Trump was a private citizen at the time of the investigation and was entitled to such protections. Other high-profile figures also featured in the documents also saw their names redacted.

Bloomberg added that FBI Director Kash Patel directed special agents to join others in going through the files and determine what could be released. Overall, as many as 1,000 agents and others went through some 100,000 documents.

The employees spotted several references to Trump, as well as dozens of other public figures. However, as officials prepared to release the files, a unit applied redactions in accordance with nine FOIA exemptions, one of them being "a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." And since Trump was a private citizen when the Epstein investigation began in 2006, his name was redacted.

Another exemption protects the disclosure of information which "could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

In another passage of the piece, Bloomberg detailed that after the FBI redacted the files, they were sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, who, according to other reports, told Trump in May that his name was included in them. She added that many other high-profile figures were also named, and the outlet added that being mentioned is not a sign of wrongdoing.

Officials said the files had unverified hearsay about many people who had socialized with Epstein in the past, including Trump. They added that they were not planning on releasing additional files because they contained child pornography and victims' personal information.

Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Monday that, based on "new reporting," there is a file "at the Justice Department with all mentions of Donald Trump in the Epstein files." "It's just sitting in a Microsoft SharePoint collaborative file. Release it," adds an X post.