Blanche claims Epstein redaction errors affect only '.001%' of materials as survivors report thousands of failures

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on ABC News' 'This Week' defending the DOJ's Epstein files release, claiming redaction errors impact only 'about .001% of all the materials' and that 'We took great pains to make sure that we protected victims.' He stated 'We have nothing to hide' and declared 'This review is, is over.' The same day, victims' lawyers reported that nearly 100 individual survivors had documented thousands of redaction failures within 48 hours, including FBI documents with full names of minor victims left unredacted, victims' bank information and addresses posted publicly, and one email listing 32 minor victims with only one name redacted. Attorney Brad Edwards called it 'literally thousands of mistakes.' Survivors issued a statement: 'Survivors are having their names and identifying information exposed, while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected. That is outrageous.' When confronted about protecting Trump, Blanche stated 'We complied with the statute. We complied with the act. We did not protect President Trump.' He also said: 'I take umbrage at the suggestion, which is totally false, that the attorney general or this department does not take child exploitation or sex trafficking seriously.'

"We took great pains to make sure that we protected victims... redaction errors impact about .001% of all the materials" — Deputy AG Todd Blanche on ABC News' 'This Week,' February 1, 2026, as survivors documented thousands of failures