ANKARA

A law firm representing alleged victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced sex offender, has asked a federal judge to intervene after dozens of unredacted victim names appeared in documents released by the US House Oversight Committee earlier this month, media reports said on Wednesday.

Attorneys Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson said the release caused “widespread panic” among alleged victims, with several expressing shock that identifying information had been made public despite prior assurances that names would be redacted, according to ABC News.

“I thought the government had promised to redact our names and identifying material,” one alleged victim told the firm, according to a court filing.

Another said the disclosure was “just impossible,” while a third wrote, “I have been unable to mentally and emotionally function or sleep.”

The Justice Department faces a Dec. 19 deadline to release hundreds of thousands of Epstein-related files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The attorneys urged US District Judge Richard Berman to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to strengthen its review procedures to prevent another release of sensitive material.

“‘These women are not political pawns,’” the filing read, adding that victims “have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to feel safe and protected by our country, which has failed them time and time again.”

The filing states that the Oversight Committee’s documents included unredacted data for dozens of alleged victims, including minors.

One file alone contained 28 names.

The attorneys said the DOJ either “does not know the identities of all the victims” or is “intentionally failing to protect victims from public exposure.”

The lawyers noted that the DOJ has acknowledged that Epstein harmed “over one thousand victims” and asked the court to confirm whether the department had attempted to redact all corresponding names before sharing documents with Congress.

They also said victims had been unable to reach DOJ officials to prevent further breaches.

“Despite numerous pleas for assistance,” they wrote, “the Department of Justice has been the primary violator of the victims’ identity protection thus far.”

The DOJ has separately asked courts in New York and Florida to authorize the release of grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Epstein- and Maxwell-related cases, records that are typically kept confidential.

Judge Berman responded by ordering the DOJ to provide by Dec. 1 a “detailed description” of the materials it plans to release and its redaction procedures to protect victim identities.

In a separate filing, US Attorney Jay Clayton said his office would “confer with counsel for known victims concerning names and terms for withholding and redactions” and outlined categories of material the DOJ intends to release, including witness interview notes, search warrant applications, financial records, and documents from the Epstein estate.