An FBI whistleblower warned that Director Kash Patel’s rush to release the Jeffrey Epstein files could “destroy people’s lives” and feared that mistakes would be used to justify firing staffers, according to internal documents.
The written complaint, obtained by PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, was filed in March 2025 by an unnamed official in the FBI’s Information Management Division. The official alleged that Patel had threatened to fire staff “if the job is not done by his made up deadline.”
The whistleblower suggested the deadline could serve as cover for staff cuts Patel wanted. “What better way than to fire us for making mistakes during this ever changing process, or as scapegoats for the DOJ’s lack of following proper procedures,” they wrote.
PunchUp obtained the records through a public records request. In them, the employee described a hurried review and murky directions from superiors. The complaint warned that names and other details identifying FBI agents and staff were being left in the files, which could make them and their families targets. The whistleblower also worried that information reviewers were told not to black out could be combined to reveal the identities of Epstein’s victims.
“I am concerned that the rush deadline on the project, for no discernable reason, will lead to mistakes that could destroy people’s lives,” the whistleblower wrote.
The FBI’s Office of Integrity and Compliance referred the complaint to the Justice Department’s inspector general, and the bureau then closed its own case. The records don’t show whether the inspector general took further action. An inspector general spokesman told PunchUp that the office would not “confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.”
The New York Times reported the firing threat in January, quoting a former FBI section chief who said an employee on the review team described Patel joining a conference call, berating workers and threatening their jobs.
Months later, some of the whistleblower’s fears came to pass. The Justice Department’s January 2026 release of millions more pages revealed the identities of a number of survivors, some of whom had never spoken publicly about their abuse.
Marina Lacerda, who was abused by Epstein at 14, found her name in the unredacted files at least 46 times. After a wave of online harassment, and with classmates asking her 12-year-old daughter whether Epstein was her father, Lacerda told Reuters she now sleeps with a handgun on her nightstand.
About 1,000 FBI personnel were assigned to the review, and the bureau spent $851,344 on overtime from March 17 to March 22, 2025, the Daily Beast has reported. The FBI’s workforce has shrunk by 7% under Trump, according to reports cited by PunchUp.
The documents surfaced a day after House Democrats released a report alleging that the Justice Department and FBI covered up evidence of President Donald Trump’s ties to Epstein, claims the White House rejects.
The FBI and Justice Department did not respond to PunchUp’s requests for comment.