Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, one of the premier federal prosecutors’ offices in the United States, are reportedly being ‘crushed’ by the workload as they sift through the massive trove of Epstein files – as members of the public and lawmakers impatiently wait for further releases.
For weeks, hundreds of attorneys in the prestigious federal trial court have been dedicated to redacting sensitive information about survivors as required under the recently passed Epstein Files Transparency Act, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton has told the Justice Department.
Congress initially imposed a deadline of December 19 to release all documents, including those in the New York court cases against Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
But inside the office, those familiar with the matter describe prosecutors being “crushed by the work” in trying to review the more than two million documents, according to Politico.
Nearly every single prosecutor, even those working on high-profile cases, as well as some top-ranking executive staff, is assisting in reviewing files. Sometimes the work can even carry into the weekend, sources the outlet.
The Southern District of New York declined to comment when contacted by The Independent.
The Southern District of New York is considered one of the most influential federal courts in the country due to its location in Manhattan and its history as the oldest federal court. Some of the nation’s most-watched cases are tried in the Southern District of New York – such as the ongoing case against deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
But even several prosecutors assigned to work on the Maduro case have been asked to assist with the Epstein files, Politico reports.
Clayton, who leads the Southern District of New York, has said in court filings that the redactions are a “substantial undertaking” because of the number of documents that require manual review.
The Manhattan court is where two massive federal investigations took place – one into Epstein and the other into Maxwell. Epstein died in prison before his case could go to trial. Maxwell’s trial ended with her child sex trafficking conviction.
Clayton said at least 125 attorneys in the Southern District of New York are working on the Epstein file redactions. Approximately 80 attorneys from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division have been sent to assist the New York prosecutors in reviewing the files.
There are also prosecutors and investigators in the Southern District of Florida, where Epstein was investigated in the early 2000s, going through redactions in documents located at that federal court.
Those are all additions to the more than 100 specially trained document analysts assisting courts from the FBI.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has echoed many of the sentiments, saying the effort to go through documents is “all-hands-on-deck.”
Yet it’s still unclear when the remainder of the Epstein files will be released.
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