Oh! Oh! Internet Sleuths Reveal Hack to Undo Epstein File Redactions

Trump's panicking DOJ is already screaming 'hoax' about Epstein files 
exposed content.

Internet Sleuths Reveal Hack to Undo Epstein File Redactions
 
Trump's DOJ has botched the Epstein files release even more than previously 
thought.
 

 
Published Dec. 23 2025 3:17PM EST
 

Amateur hackers are using Photoshop to undo redactions in files released by 
the Department of Justice in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The latest 11,034-document dump under the Epstein Files Transparency Act on 
Monday came heavily stocked with blacked-out names and phrases, much to the 
chagrin of social media sleuths. But within hours, X users had already 
uncovered the not-so-bulletproof method the DOJ used to redact the 
information.

"So apparently there are many Epstein files on the DOJ website where you 
can highlight the redacted text, copy it, and paste it onto another 
document to read the redactions, " X user Liam Nissan shared in a post 
viewed 6.8 million times as of publication.

Independent political commentator Ed Krassenstein even posted a how-to 
video on X, demonstrating the process—and ridiculing Trump's DOJ at the 
same time.

"Trump DOJ screwed up some of the redactions so bad that you can recover 
them, " he said in the video. "And I did so simply by copying and pasting 
the text. "

The redactions fueled speculation that the president, whom Epstein has 
called his closest friend, is covering up his own name or shielding others 
who appear in the documents.

"The Epstein files on the DOJ website allow you to highlight the redacted 
text, copy it, and paste it into another document, which reveals what was 
hidden, " one X user wrote. "You can also press Ctrl+F and search for 
'Trump ' (with a space) to see his name appear more than 600 times. "
X
Social media was in a frenzy over the DOJ's sloppy censorship. X

It's not clear how many documents can be unmasked by the editing trick. 
However, one newly naked document shed light on a civil case against Darren 
K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, two executors of Epstein's estate. According 
to The Guardian, a redacted portion reads: "Between September 2015 and June 
2019, Indyke signed (FAC) for over $400,000 made payable to young female 
models and actresses, including a former Russian model who received over 
$380,000 through monthly payments of $8,333 made over a period of more than 
three and a half years until the middle of 2019. "
Jeffrey Epstein's Right-Hand Mystery Men
The Lawyer and The Accountant
Kate Briquelet, William Bredderman, Tracy Connor
200830-bredderman-briquelet-epstein-guys-hero_x6v2cr

Indyke has never faced criminal charges and was hired by the Parlatore Law 
Group in 2022—prior to the DOJ settling the Epstein case—which represents 
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Another redacted passage alleges that the two men tried to conceal their 
"criminal sex trafficking and abuse" through large sums of hush money to 
victims and witnesses.

"Epstein also instructed one or more Epstein Enterprise participant-
witnesses to destroy evidence relevant to ongoing court proceedings 
involving Defendants' criminal sex trafficking and abuse conduct, " the 
document reads.
Jeffrey Epstein (left) and Donald Trump pose together at the Mar-a-Lago 
estate, Palm Beach, Florida on February 22, 1997.
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were friends for years, but the president 
denies being aware of the disgraced financier's child sex crimes. Davidoff 
Studios Photography/Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

The Photoshop loophole was discovered a month after the Epstein Files 
Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed. Of the material made 
public—in which Trump's name appears multiple times—hundreds of pages were 
heavily redacted, which legal experts say "falls far short" of what is 
legally required under the law.

In response, the panicked DOJ has issued a defensive statement alleging 
that some of the documents "contain untrue and sensationalist" allegations 
against the president.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing impeachment and contempt of Congress 
calls over her handling of the Epstein files.

The department has said many of the redactions were made to protect 
victims' privacy or to shield minors. Yet several Epstein survivors—whose 
identities had previously been protected—have since discovered their names 
were left unredacted in the released documents.

Trump has insisted that he and Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan 
holding cell in 2019, were never close friends, repeating several times 
that he distanced himself from the late financier after he was put on the 
sex offender list in 2008, shortly after he pleaded guilty to a charge of 
solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.