(CNN) — A Jeffrey Epstein survivor who has only ever chosen to identify herself anonymously as “Jane Doe” was startled to learn that her name appeared multiple times in the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files that began on Friday, and she told CNN in an exclusive interview Monday that her attempts to get the DOJ to redact her name from the publicly available documents had been unsuccessful so far.
Jane Doe said she both witnessed and experienced Epstein’s abuse in 2009 and reported her experience to the FBI the same year. That time frame is particularly significant, because it was after Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges in Florida in the aftermath of receiving a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors. Epstein would serve just 13 months in prison, though for much of his jail sentence Epstein was allowed to be out on a work-release program — a period of time when his abuse continued, survivors have said.
CNN verified that Jane Doe’s name appears many times in the Epstein files released so far by DOJ. CNN is choosing to only describe Jane Doe’s experience with and allegations against Epstein in broad and agreed-upon terms to protect her identity. She said that since Friday, she has received unsolicited phone calls.
CNN has reached out to DOJ for comment.
Jane Doe alerted DOJ officials over the weekend that her information was not redacted, according to an email exchange viewed by CNN. An official responded that they would convey her message to those handling the documents and redactions. Jane Doe followed up again on Sunday to inform DOJ that her name remained public in the Epstein files. Her name was still viewable in multiple places as of Monday afternoon.
In the interview with CNN, Jane Doe said she has been asking federal authorities for her FBI file for years. She said she is mortified that the DOJ failed to properly redact her — and other survivors’ names — and said her entire experience gives her very little confidence in the agency’s ability to protect current and future victims who might report abuse.
“The reason I feel so passionate is it’s not just about me and what happened. I fear for the little girl who’s calling the FBI right now and asking for help,” Jane Doe said. “I am so afraid for her, because if I have to do all of this right now… I have no words. I just have no words. It hurts my heart. It haunts me to my core.”
Jane Doe was one of more than a dozen survivors — along with family members of the late victim Virginia Giuffre — who issued a new statement Monday raising a myriad of concerns with DOJ’s release of the files. They said that there were “abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation,” some victims’ identities that were left unredacted “causing real and immediate harm,” and that there were no financial documents. The survivors said they have found it “difficult or impossible” to search for materials relevant to their own experiences.
CNN reported on Friday in the immediate aftermath of the DOJ’s release that survivors were struggling to navigate the agency’s online “Epstein Library,” and not having much luck finding information about their own cases.
“There has been no communication with survivors or our representatives as to what was withheld from release, or why hundreds of thousands of documents have not been disclosed by the legal deadline, or how DOJ will ensure that no more victim names are wrongly disclosed,” the statement says. “While clearer communication would not change the fact that a law was broken, its absence suggests an ongoing intent to keep survivors and the public in the dark as much as possible and as long as possible.”
Jess Michaels, an Epstein survivor and a lead writer of the group statement, told CNN in an interview Monday morning that the DOJ’s handling of the release of the files represents “the opposite of transparency.”
“There was no one that approached us and said, ‘Hey, we want to do the right thing by survivors. Let’s have a conversation about this,” she said. “It’s that black and white. It’s: the Department of Justice broke a law signed by the president, period.”
The DOJ has said that the agency is continuing to work through necessary redactions, and that hundreds of thousands more documents will be released in the coming weeks.
“We’re going through a very methodical process with hundreds of lawyers looking at every single document and making sure that victims’ names and any of the information from victims is protected and redacted, which is exactly what the (Epstein Files) Transparency Act expects,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Michaels, who is in close touch with a number of other Epstein survivors, said she was not aware of any example of a fellow survivor finding new information from the DOJ’s files about their own experiences that they were looking for – with the single exception of Maria Farmer, whose 1996 complaint about Epstein was included in Friday’s disclosure.
Asked what actions, if any, the survivors might take next, she said: “We just want to pause right now and assess.”
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who co-authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, said on X Monday morning that “the DOJ must stop protecting rich & powerful men who were not charged or those who sabotaged the prosecution.”
Khanna called on the DOJ to release, among other things, FBI witness interviews that name other men, and Epstein’s emails seized from his computer.
The-CNN-Wire
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