Make no mistake, the DOJ redactions are illegal

When I was trained as a Classification Advisory Officer with the NSA, I learned that the most important factor in terms of releasing or redacting information were the exceptions. For example, with the Freedom of Information Act, all information is releasable to US persons upon request barring 9 mostly boring exceptions that don't apply to the Epstein Transparency Law because it has its own set.

Let's look at the allowed exceptions….

"(A) contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;"

Makes sense. Don't victimize the victims.

"(B) depict or contain child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) as defined under 18 U.S.C. 2256 and prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 2252–2252A;"

Pretty self-evident here.

"(C) would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary;"

Might bear weight if they hadn't specifically issued a statement that there were going to be no more investigations:

"(D) depict or contain images of death, physical abuse, or injury of any person; or" [continued in (E)]

Also clear and appreciated. I don't want to see that crap either.

"(E) contain information specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order."

Ok, let's break that one down a little further… Exception E requires a standing Executive Order, that it be national defense/fp related, and be properly classified. Basically it has to be "properly classified" which refers to any controlled documents including "for official use only" (now referred to as "Controlled Unclassified Information") or legit classified stuff. You can easily identify a document that was ever in a controlled status by the required "portion marks" on every paragraph and section:

Fun fact: after I left the NSA it was a LONG TIME before I finally stopped reflexively starting every paragraph with portion marks.

Now that you understand the rules…

Let's play a redaction game!

Challenge #1

Here's a redacted document where you see Jeffrey Epstein (of course) receiving emails from someone who's name is redacted:

Which exemptions apply?

1. ❌ No, this clearly wasn't a victim
2. ❌ Not an image
3. ❌ Not pursuant to an investigation (by their own admission)
4. ❌ Not an image
5. ❌ No portion marks, so NOT classified or controlled

Oops. That's an illegal redaction DOJ. Strike one.

Challenge #2

Here's an image. What do you see?

Which exemptions apply?

1. ❌ No, this clearly wasn't a victim
2. ❌ No child visible
3. ❌ Not pursuant to an investigation (by their own admission)
4. ❌ Not related to death, physical abuse, or injury
5. ❌ No portion marks, so NOT classified or controlled

Oops. That's an illegal redaction DOJ. Strike two.

Challenge #3

Let's look at another redacted page… or in this case hundreds of pages all look exactly the same:

1. ❌ 119 pages of victim names on every line and no other content? Fat chance
2. ❌ 119 pages of Grand Jury documents of only of full page photos of smut? No way
3. ❌ Not pursuant to an investigation (by their own admission)
4. ❌ Same as 2, no chance
5. ❌ No portion marks, so NOT classified or controlled

In case there was a question of whether they really could simply be classified documents and warrant full page redaction, first; US Classified/Foreign Party documents marked "Grand Jury-NY"? Please. Secondly, here's what a full page redaction actually looks like:

Do you see it? Yup! The portion marks are covered here, but the classification and other control markings are still visible. You will NEVER see a page without any kind of control or portion marks… let alone hundreds in a row. This definitely doesn't count as "in fact properly classified…" per the 5th exception.

Oops. That's an illegal redaction DOJ. Strike three.

Now YOU try!

Go check out any redacted Epstein documents and look for the black bars. Do they cover things that clearly fall into one or more exemptions? I'll be honest, I tried, and I haven't been able to find a single proper redaction yet. Maybe you'll have more luck…

Double-pointer!

Here's the best part: "(2) All redactions must be accompanied by a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress." Has that happened? I very seriously doubt it and, if I'm right, that's compounded disregard for the law.

Tags: Accountability, cao, classification, crimes, doj, epstein, exemptions, NSA, trump