2026年6月25日 / 美国东部时间晚上7:09 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
周四，一名法官下令司法部要么公布已故性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦相关多份文件的未编辑版本，要么解释为何无法这么做。此前有诉讼指控代理司法部长托德·布兰奇不当编辑文件内容。
美国地区法官埃米特·沙利文要求政府在7月2日周四之前遵守该命令。
涉及的文件包括8封发件人或收件人被涂黑的电子邮件、一份隐去了潜在同谋者姓名的爱泼斯坦起诉书草稿，以及一封2019年提及多名同谋者姓名被涂黑的电子邮件。沙利文同时还下令司法部要么公开几份总结针对特朗普总统未经证实指控的联邦文件背后的审讯笔录，要么解释为何无法公开这些笔录。
法院还要求司法部按照法律要求，公布一份日志，列出其在已发布的爱泼斯坦相关文件中所做的每一处编辑。
此次法院命令出台前，司法部处理这些文件的方式已引发数月争议。这些文件本应根据一项联邦法律予以公开。自去年12月以来，已有数百万份记录被公开，其中包括有关这位名誉扫地的金融家及其2019年在审前羁押期间死亡的联邦调查局调查照片、电子邮件和执法文件。
议员和爱泼斯坦的受害者幸存者一直在质疑缺失或被大量涂黑的记录。司法部曾表示，其收集的600万页爱泼斯坦相关文件中，仅约一半会被公开，且许多已发布的文件都存在部分内容被涂黑的情况。司法部称，未公开的文件要么是副本、与爱泼斯坦案无关，要么受法律特权保护。
周四的命令涉及的一封邮件中，爱泼斯坦提及了一段“酷刑视频”，今年早些时候曾引发审查。加州民主党众议员罗·卡纳和肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·马西曾质疑为何收件人姓名被涂黑。布兰奇后来在社交媒体上暗示，该收件人是迪拜物流巨头DP世界前首席执行官苏丹·艾哈迈德·本·苏莱姆。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻此前已联系苏莱姆寻求置评。
司法部为其编辑行为进行了辩护，称编辑是为了保护个人信息或受害者身份。
美国司法部
这封在爱泼斯坦文件中公开的电子邮件的收件人姓名被美国司法部涂黑。
周四的法院裁决源于独立记者、法律评论员凯蒂·庞于4月提起的诉讼，她认为这些编辑行为是“公然、令人震惊且持续不断的违反”要求公开爱泼斯坦相关文件的联邦法律的行为。她请求法官下令公开几份未编辑的文件。
司法部本月早些时候回应称，庞无权起诉要求公开这些文件，因为适当的法律途径是提交《信息自由法》申请。庞的律师周三指出了司法部拒绝处理与爱泼斯坦相关的《信息自由法》申请的情况。随后法官要求司法部在周四下午1点前作出回应，在司法部错过该截止日期后，法官下令公开庞所要求的文件。
在一份长达48页的意见书中，沙利文认定庞有权就未公开的文件提起诉讼，且很可能胜诉。他还表示，《信息自由法》“无法提供充分的救济”。
司法部本月早些时候请求沙利文至少暂停七天任何有利于庞的命令，以便政府有时间决定是否上诉。沙利文周四驳回了这一请求。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻已联系司法部寻求置评。
庞的律师布伦丹·巴卢告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻：“政府以为它可以无视自身法律，无视法官的命令，只为保护那些有权有势的富人。这一套没能得逞，现在公众终于能了解杰弗里·爱泼斯坦及其关联网络的真相了。”
Judge orders DOJ to either unredact more Epstein files or explain why they must stay blacked out
June 25, 2026 / 7:09 PM EDT / CBS News
A judge on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to either release unredacted versions of several files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or explain why it can’t do so, following a lawsuit accusing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche of improperly redacting documents.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave the government until Thursday, July 2, to comply.
The documents in question include eight emails with either the sender or recipient blacked out, a draft indictment of Epstein with the names of potential co-conspirators obscured and a 2019 email that mentions several co-conspirators whose names were redacted. Sullivan also ordered the Justice Department to either release the interview notes behind several FBI documents summarizing unverified allegations against President Trump, or explain why it couldn’t release them.
The government was also ordered to release a log listing every redaction it has made to the files it has published on Epstein, as required by law.
The court order follows months of controversy over the Justice Department’s handling of the files, which were released in response to a federal law. Millions of records have been made public since December, including photos, emails and law enforcement documents from the federal investigations into the disgraced financier and his 2019 death in pretrial custody.
Lawmakers and Epstein survivors have raised questions about missing or heavily redacted records. The Justice Department has said only about half of the 6 million pages of documents it collected on Epstein would be released, and many of the released files are partially blacked out. The department has said the unreleased documents were either duplicates, unrelated to Epstein or protected by legal privilege.
One of the emails covered by Thursday’s order — in which Epstein refers to a “torture video” — drew scrutiny earlier this year after Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky questioned why the recipient was blacked out. Blanche later suggested on social media the recipient was Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, former CEO of the Dubai-based logistics firm DP World. CBS News has previously reached out to Sulayem for comment.
The department has defended its efforts, arguing the redactions are necessary to protect personal information or victims’ identities.
The Justice Department redacted the name of the recipient of this email released in the Epstein files. U.S. Department of Justice
Thursday’s court ruling was spurred by a lawsuit filed in April by independent journalist and legal commentator Katie Phang over the redactions, which she argues are a “brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation” of the federal law mandating the release of the Epstein files. She asked a judge to order the release of several unredacted files.
The Justice Department responded earlier this month by arguing Phang cannot sue to force the documents’ release because the proper recourse is for her to file a Freedom Of Information Act request. Phang’s lawyers on Wednesday pointed to denials of Epstein-related FOIA requests. The judge then directed the Justice Department to respond by 1 p.m. on Thursday, and after the department missed that deadline, he ordered it to release the documents Phang had requested.
In a 48-page opinion, Sullivan concluded that Phang had the right to sue over unreleased files and was likely to prevail. He also said FOIA “does not provide an adequate remedy.”
The Justice Department requested earlier this month that Sullivan pause any order in Phang’s favor for at least seven days to give the government time to decide whether to appeal. Sullivan denied that request on Thursday.
CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Phang’s attorney, Brendan Ballou, told CBS News: “The government thought that it could ignore its own law and blow off a judge’s order, all for the sake of protecting the very powerful and the very rich. It didn’t work, and now the public will finally get transparency around Jeffrey Epstein and his network.”
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