FBI Redacts Trump’s Name from Epstein Files, Citing Privacy Exemptions

The FBI has redacted Donald Trump’s name from recently released documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, despite previous promises of full transparency from Trump and his administration. The redactions were made as part of a final review by the bureau’s FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) team before senior officials concluded that further disclosure “would not be appropriate or warranted.”

This move sparked anger among Trump supporters, many of whom have closely followed conspiracy theories about Epstein. Trump had previously pledged to declassify all Epstein-related materials if elected, and former attorney general nominee Pam Bondi had called for maximum public disclosure.

At a high-profile White House event, Bondi unveiled what was described as the first phase of the “Epstein files” release, but the documents mostly included previously released material such as pages from Epstein’s infamous “black book,” which had already listed Trump and his family members by name.

When further documents were prepared for release, the FBI’s FOIA officers applied redactions according to two privacy exemptions (Exemption 6 and Exemption 7C), which are meant to protect individuals’ personal privacy — even in the case of high-profile public figures who were private citizens at the time of the investigation.

Sources confirmed that Trump’s name, along with other prominent individuals, was blacked out based on these rules.

There was reported internal disagreement within the FBI about how much to disclose, leading to the retirement of a key section chief involved in the process.

The Department of Justice and FBI later released a statement explaining that much of the information remains sealed by court order, and that additional disclosure would not serve the public interest.

The decision to redact Trump’s name led to outrage among Trump’s base and accusations of a cover-up, with some right-wing influencers and podcasters alleging the administration was misleading the public about the true contents of the Epstein files. Trump, in turn, blamed political opponents for the backlash.

Legal experts note that it is standard practice for law enforcement to redact names in investigative files unless disclosure is necessary to prove government misconduct. As a result, it appears unlikely that Trump’s name will be unredacted in any future releases of the Epstein documents.