In November 2025, the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law, giving the Department of Justice (DOJ) thirty days to release all government documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking network. At the time, we celebrated this as an incredible victory. We hoped that, after decades of waiting, survivors would finally receive long overdue justice.
Six weeks after the legal deadline set by the Act, the DOJ issued what it said would be its final release of the files. Yet this feels like it should be only the beginning.
Read on for an assessment of where things stand with the Epstein files, and what needs to happen next to ensure real justice for survivors.
Tell the DOJ to Bring Justice & Restitution for Epstein Survivors!
DOJ Release Contains Survivor Names and Abuse Images
The Department of Justice stated numerous times that it was working diligently to ensure all survivor information was redacted from the files. This was the reported reason for them being unable to meet the legal deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Tragically, however, the latest release of the Epstein files exposed numerous survivors’ identities and personal information.
Survivors’ attorney, Brad Edwards, said:
“We are getting constant calls from victims because their names, despite them never coming forward, being completely unknown to the public, have all just been released for public consumption. It’s literally 1000s of mistakes.”
Even worse, the New York Times reported that the released files contained dozens of unredacted naked photos of survivors with their faces visible. Some of these photos appeared to be of minors. In other words, the DOJ published image-based sexual abuse and likely child sexual abuse material.
This is a shocking failure by the DOJ to follow the law and its own assurances to the public and the Epstein victims. We are glad the DOJ is working to correct these mistakes, but they should never have happened at all. It is an egregious affront to survivors’ privacy, safety, and dignity.
Shockingly, when Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, she refused to apologize to survivors for this mistake. This was disappointing coming from Bondi who was previously a leader in combatting human trafficking during her tenure as the Florida AG. We are concerned that partisan politics on both sides is distracting from what matters most right now, which is that the Epstein survivors be protected and that justice be served.
Co-Conspirators’ Names Redacted from Files
As if it were not bad enough that survivors were inappropriately exposed, perpetrators were given the privacy that survivors were denied.
The co-sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khana, requested to see the unredacted files to ensure the DOJ had appropriately fulfilled its duties under the Act. The Representatives have since reported that they viewed a 2019 DOJ document that lists at least six co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein in a child sex trafficking investigation; the names of these six co-conspirators were redacted when the DOJ released this document. While some of the names appeared elsewhere in the files, they did not appear on this very important file where they were clearly listed as co-conspirators in child sex trafficking.
After raising this, one name was unredacted by the DOJ: Les Wexner, the founder of Victoria’s Secret. The rest were left redacted. Representative Ro Khanna eventually took it upon himself to release the remaining five names, which included Sultan Ahmed bin Saleem, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, and Nicola Caputo.
Sultan Ahmed bin Saleem’s name was also redacted in an email exchange with Epstein, where Epstein said to him, “I loved the torture video.”
Why did the DOJ redact these names? How many other co-conspirators and facilitators have been hidden from the public and why?
It’s theoretically possible that the names were redacted because they conflicted with active investigations—but why have we seen no hint of any such investigations?
The rationale of making redactions for the sake of investigations, while sometimes valid, is far too often used as an excuse to withhold information at will, dodging transparency and accountability. The DOJ, under several administrations, has had years to investigate co-conspirators of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. Yet still we’re left with a disturbing absence of prosecutions.
The DOJ’s own documents confirmed that Epstein victimized over 1,000 people. He could not have done this on his own, in a vacuum, especially given his high-profile status. There would have been countless facilitators and enablers—indeed, the documents that have been released confirm as much. We ought to have seen a flood of prosecutions, but we haven’t.
DOJ Denies Evidence of Sex Buyers
The files released so far by the Department of Justice contain numerous indications that Epstein and Maxwell provided trafficked women and girls to third parties (i.e. sex buyers) who desired to sexually abuse them. The DOJ’s files listed Leon Black as one such sex buyer.
So, why has the DOJ repeatedly stated that there is “no evidence” that Epstein/Maxwell were trafficking women and girls to other people?
Epstein survivors maintain that they are aware of specific sex buyers whose names have not yet been released. Yet at the hearing, the survivors in attendance indicated that the DOJ has never met with them to hear their evidence, despite repeated requests to meet with this DOJ. When will the DOJ meet with survivors who want to provide evidence?
And once again: where are the prosecutions??
Crucial Documents Withheld
The DOJ withheld or completely blacked out the FD-302 forms associated with Jeffrey Epstein. These are forms the FBI fills out after interviewing victims and witnesses; they are crucial for understanding the nature of Epstein/Maxwell’s trafficking ring and who was involved.
Further, the DOJ has not released prosecutorial notes regarding charging decisions for Epstein (and potential co-conspirators) back in 2008 and for his final arrest before his death. Considering the 2008 plea deal with Epstein has largely been considered a gross miscarriage of justice, survivors are owed transparency around this issue.
Survivors Deserve Restitution
In addition to penalties for perpetrators, restitution must be provided to survivors.
Epstein was a mega-millionaire; he owned several exorbitant properties that have presumably all been seized by the DOJ. The DOJ should use these properties and any other Epstein assets to create a restitution fund for the 1,000+ identified survivors.
While this will not undo the abuse they suffered at the hands of Epstein, Maxwell, and facilitators, it is the very least that is owed to them, to help contribute to their wellbeing and healing.
If you have not already, please take the action below, urging the DOJ to provide restitution for survivors and accountability for perpetrators!
Tell the DOJ to Bring Justice & Restitution for Epstein Survivors!
Teresa J. Helm’s Ongoing Advocacy
NCOSE commends the ongoing leadership of Teresa J. Helm, our Survivor Services Coordinator and an Epstein survivor. She recently joined other survivors in sending an open letter to Congress regarding Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition and relocation to a minimum security prison. Teresa was present while Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the House Judiciary Committee and was commended in name by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin. She also participated in a press conference on Capitol Hill in advance of the hearing and answered media’s questions throughout the day.
We are so grateful to Teresa and other survivor leaders who have been unrelenting in this fight. They are advocating not only for themselves but for an entire nation who deserves to know that power and wealth is not a free pass for committing heinous crimes of sexual abuse.
This is Not a Political Issue
The matter of the Epstein files has been highly politicized in the news, to the point of obscuring the real issues at hand and speaking over survivor voices.
NCOSE’s stance on this is clear: we firmly reject sexual exploitation in all its forms and call for all people, whether Democrat or Republican or anything in between, to unite and work together in fighting against this evil. The sex trafficking of children and women is not a political issue and should never be made into one.
Through many administrations and political seasons, NCOSE has held steadfastly to a nonpartisan approach, believing that the fight against sexual exploitation transcends ideological divides, and that only by overcoming our differences and working together will we be able to find meaningful solutions.
