Epstein survivors ‘very unhappy' with DoJ release of files, says victim Lisa Phillips – here's why

Many of Jeffrey Epstein survivors are “very unhappy” with the outcome of the way the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released the files, said Lisa Phillips, a survivor and an advocate for the survivors.

The documents released by the DOJ on Friday included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of potential victims could be identified.

Lawyers for Epstein's victims submitted to a New York court that the flawed redactions in the files had “turned upside down” the lives of nearly 100 survivors.

“In some cases... they have a line through the names, but you can still read the names,” Gloria Allred, a women's rights lawyer who has represented many of Epstein's victims, previously told the BBC. “In other cases, they've shown photos of victims-survivors who have never done a public interview, never given their name publicly.”

Survivors also issued a statement calling the disclosure “outrageous,” adding that they should not be “named, scrutinised, and retraumatized”.

‘DoJ violated all three requirements’

Talking to BBC Newsday, Lisa said many survivors were “very unhappy with the outcome” of the Epstein files, which were released on Friday. “The DoJ has violated all three of our requirements.”

“Number one, many documents still haven't been disclosed. Number two, the date set for release has long passed. And number three, DOJ released the names of many of the survivors,” she said.

“We feel like they're playing some games with us, but we're not going to stop fighting,” Lisa added.

Another Epstein survivor, Annie Farmer, told the BBC that the DOJ's latest release has done a lot of damage to the survivors.

“It's hard to focus on the new information that has been brought to light because of how much damage the DOJ has done by exposing survivors in this way,” she said.

DOJ ‘takes victim protection very seriously’

The DOJ said it had taken down all the flagged files and that mistakes were due to “technical or human error”.

In a letter submitted to a federal judge, the DOJ said: “All documents requested by victims or counsel to be removed have been removed for further redaction.” A “substantial number” of documents independently identified have also been removed, it added.

DOJ “takes victim protection very seriously and has redacted thousands of victim names in the millions of published pages to protect the innocent,” its spokesperson told CBS.

As the department removed thousands of documents from its website on Wednesday, the spokesperson said the DOJ was “working around the clock to fix the issue” and “to date 0.1% of released pages” had been found to have unredacted information that could identify victims.