DOJ does damage control as staffer admits Republicans will be redacted from Epstein files
The Department of Justice attempted to do damage control after conservative political activist James O'Keefe released a video of a staffer claiming the government would "redact every Republican" from files about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a Thursday post on X, O'Keefe shared a video that he claimed was of a deputy chief at the U.S. Department of Justice, led by President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"They'll redact every Republican or conservative person in those files," the official noted in the selectively edited video. "Leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files."
The man went on to say that the Bureau of Prisons had violated policy by moving Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to a minimum security prison.
The Department of Justice later responded on X with a letter from Deputy Chief Joseph Schnitt that appeared to confirm that he spoke to someone who worked for O'Keefe.
"I met a woman named Skylar on Hinge, a dating app, in July 2025, her profile is no longer findable," Schnitt explained. "We had two dates (August 4 and August 16)."
"She gave no clues that she was a reporter or recording our dates. Had I a clue, the first date would have ended immediately and there never would have been a second one," he continued. "The comments I made were my own personal comments on what I've learned in the media and not from anything I've done at or learned via work."
"I recall that she asked if I had any knowledge about Maxwell and I specifically said I only know what's been reported in the media."