Legal experts and commentators raised concerns on Sunday after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche outlined a new approach to redacting the Epstein files that could potentially shield individuals implicated in Jeffrey Epstein's activities. Blanche, who previously served as personal defense counsel to Donald Trump before his appointment to lead the Justice Department, now oversees the federal government's handling of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender.

In a court filing submitted last week, Blanche provided explanations to Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia regarding the Department of Justice's redaction process for the Epstein files. According to Allison Gill, host of "The Breakdown," the filing introduced a revised definition of who qualifies as a "victim" in the case. Gill discussed the filing with journalist Katie Phang — who is suing the DOJ over its redactions — on a recent episode of the program.

Under the new definition, the category of "victim" now encompasses individuals who "self-identified" as victims. Gill expressed concern that perpetrators who associated with Epstein could exploit this self-identification mechanism to have their names protected from public disclosure.

Phang identified what she sees as two significant consequences of the redefinition.

"One, it creates a very slippery slope in terms of how we are viewing who we are now defining as victims," Phang said. "It's never easy to identify a victim, especially in a trafficking situation. My concern is the expansive nature that Blanche is taking is that he's going to use that as an excuse to not investigate, as an excuse not to prosecute."

Phang also described the recruitment dynamics within Epstein's network: "We know that there are people who were brought into the Epstein orbit and were, according to them, groomed and abused by Epstein and Maxwell ... and were tasked to recruit ... almost as if it's a grotesque Ponzi scheme."

The reference to Maxwell points to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Epstein himself died in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges; his death was ruled a suicide. The documents at issue have been the subject of years of litigation and sustained public pressure for full disclosure.

Phang emphasized that her lawsuit does not seek to identify anyone who was abused by Epstein, noting that such disclosure is explicitly prohibited by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last year.

Nevertheless, Phang argued that Blanche could leverage the expanded definition to place the case in a problematic position.

"If Todd Blanche allows people who were co-conspirators with Epstein, Maxwell, and others ... to be able to self-identify as victims, and in doing so, protects their names from possible ... pursuit of the truth, we have a problem. We have a serious problem," Phang said.

Source: Raw Story