US judge to hear request for 'immediate takedown' of Epstein files

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES - A US federal judge said he would hear a request to block access to investigative files linked to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday, after lawyers flagged unredacted names of victims.

The Justice Department released more than three million files last week related to the investigation into the disgraced financier, including his links to high-profile figures.

The department was left scrambling after the names of alleged victims, who were supposed to be anonymised, were left unredacted.

In a letter to judges overseeing the case, lawyers representing the victims listed documents in the latest cache they said revealed victims' names and some personal details.

"There is no conceivable degree of institutional incompetence sufficient to explain the scale, consistency, and persistence of the failures that occurred," said lawyers Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards in a letter dated Sunday.

"Particularly where the sole task ordered by the Court and repeatedly emphasized by the DOJ was simple: redact known victims' names before publication," the lawyers added.

In their letter, they request an "immediate takedown" of the government website that published the files and the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the release process.

District Judge Richard M. Berman said in a short order that he would hold a hearing on Wednesday, but added: "I am not certain how helpful I can be."

This was not the first issue raised over the latest pages, photos, and videos from the Epstein case, which the Justice Department said would be the final batch of files released.

The department said on Sunday it was "working around the clock" to make further redactions after New York Times journalists had found dozens of naked photos that included people's faces.

Those photos have since been largely removed or redacted, the Times reported.

US President Donald Trump, once a close friend of the deceased Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of the files held by the Justice Department.

However, he caved to pressure from Congress and signed a law in November compelling the publication of the materials.