Trumps Team is like those dumb villains in the movies
ClaretClarinets on
Copy and pasting redacted text into a word processor is not a “hack”.
Excellent_Set_232 on
This headline was also written by someone who redacted the files apparently
d_c_d_ on
Good job Guardian, you really should have kept that shit on the DL.
-Milky_- on
i have a feeling it’s not actually stupidity, but an agent who was tasked to redact it got fed up and risked their job to do this hoping someone would find it out
LaChicaGo on
Very clever government
ianrl337 on
If you listen carefully you can hear Nelson from the Simpsons in the background
Calcutec_1 on
I knew they were incompetent enough for this to happen
IWasBorn2DoGoBe on
The just blocked all ability to search “Trump” in the files. Less than an hour ago you could search “Trump “ with a space and it worked, now it doesn’t. Not “Don” not “J. Trump”, not eve “J.”
guardian on
Hi, this is Nikki from the Guardian US audience team. Here’s more from the story above.
*From The Guardian:*
People examining documents released by the Department of Justice in the [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jeffrey-epstein) case discovered that some of the file redaction can be undone with Photoshop techniques, or by simply highlighting text to paste into a word processing file.
In section 85, the redacted portion states: “Between September 2015 and June 2019, Indyke signed (FAC) for over $400,000 made payable to young female models and actresses, including a former Russian model who received over $380,000 through monthly payments of $8,333 made over a period of more than three and a half years until the middle of 2019.”
Indyke, an attorney who represented Epstein for decades, has not been criminally indicted by federal authorities. He was hired by the Parlatore Law Group in 2022, before the DoJ settled the Epstein case. That firm represents Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and previously represented Donald Trump in his defense against charges stemming from the discovery of classified government documents stored at Trump’s Florida estate. Calls and email seeking comment from Indyke and the Parlatore Law Group have not yet been returned.
Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities and any wrongdoing.
The people who figured this out should not have told anyone yet. Let the idiots release more files with their half-assed redactions first
AWholeNewFattitude on
“Indyke, an attorney who represented Epstein for decades, has not been criminally indicted by federal authorities. He was hired by the Parlatore Law Group in 2022, before the DoJ settled the Epstein case. That firm represents Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and previously represented Donald Trump in his defense against charges stemming from the discovery of classified government documents stored at Trump’s Florida estate”
“Redactions of sections 184 through 192 of the document describe property taxes paid by companies incorporated by Epstein on properties that were not on the balance sheet for those firms.
“For instance, Cypress’s Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 did not reflect any assets other than cash of $18,824. Further, Cypress reported only $301 in expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018, despite it paying $106,394.60 in Santa Fe property taxes on November 6, 2018,” reads one redacted passage.
“Similarly, in 2017, Cypress reported as its only asset cash in the amount of $29,736 and expenses of $150, despite it paying $55,770.41 and $113,679.56 in Santa Fe property taxes during 2017.””
Inquiring_Octopus on
I’ve previously worked at an e-discovery company. The fact that these weren’t flattened is a stunning failure.
Vahro on
For people saying hacked is kind of loose. Check this shit out. Certain files you can also put through a python script that some dude on LAW built, print it and then rescan it with a copy machine to reconvert it as a .PDF and it will make the boxes readable. So, it’s not just the copy paste method floating about.
JohnnyOates on
The most significant unredacted information concerns Darren K. Indyke, a longtime attorney and executor of Epstein’s estate.
This confirms that Epstein’s financial network was actively supporting young women through his lawyer/executor well into 2019, the year Epstein was arrested and died.
All of which highlights a political web connecting Epstein’s inner circle to the current political landscape:
• Darren Indyke (Epstein’s executor) is represented by the Parlatore Law Group.
• This firm also represents Pete Hegseth (the current Defense Secretary) and previously represented Donald Trump in the classified documents case.
• While Indyke himself has not been criminally indicted (he settled the Virgin Islands civil sex-trafficking case for $105 million in 2022 with no admission of liability), his proximity to the President’s legal defense team creates a complex conflict of interest and political headache for the administration.
The revelation of $380,000 paid to a single “Russian model” suggests a deep, ongoing financial relationship. The consistent monthly payments of ~$8,333 look less like one-off transactions for services and more like a salary or hush money (allowance). This supports the long-standing allegation that Epstein’s “structure” of abuse and financial control continued uninterrupted by his 2008 conviction.
While the Virgin Islands case was settled, these unredacted details could spur new inquiries. If the payments were for illicit purposes (sex trafficking or silence regarding crimes), they could theoretically open avenues for new civil suits or scrutiny, although Indyke’s prior settlement was comprehensive.
Rare-Professional-24 on
I’ve had to redact a document without access to acrobat pro or some other tool to do it a foolproof way. So I loaded it in inkscape and deleted the text before making a black box over the blank space. Finally I checked for the strings I deleted with a grep command.
It always amazes me when it turns out I’m more competent than people with thousands of times the power that I have.
Then again, Im not a fucking idiot like people in the Trump administration.
TurtlesAreEvil on
What’s crazy about this is there are tons of document review softwares that lawyers and paralegals use everyday that make sure this exact thing doesn’t happen. Instead of using that software which they certainly had they drew black boxes over things with whatever software and assumed it was good.
Solcannon on
Wish this started after more was released. They definitely won’t release more because of this.
astrozombie2012 on
It bothers me more that the DOJ has actively broken the ability to search for Trump and his associates, redacted their names over every document released but actively left the names of the victims unredacted in a large amount of the files. I mean, we know it’s a coverup, but it’s so fucking blatant it’s disgusting.
TransiTorri on
I’ve been saying it for year, be thankful this administration is as incompetent as it is
PresentMarsupial6910 on
You mean the ones that were just highlighted in black, that you can just paste into another document to see them?
AethosOracle on
Don’t even have to “hack”. They made a mistake from the early 2000’s and used insecure redaction methods. I can only guess one of two situations happened there… they put someone incompetent on the task, which wouldn’t be surprising… as they have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mouth breathers in their ranks… or… somebody’s a slightly tech savvy patriot who wanted the stuff to be reversible.
babysharkdoodood on
Hackerman
timberwolf0122 on
My wife pointed out something very important and it had not give full thought to.
Please if anyone is going to post unredacted information, make sure the victim’s names are still blacked out. They do not deserve to be a victim twice.
I want nothing more than to see the monsters in this file brought to justice, and I’ll admit I am torn in terms of the urge to see justice and the rights of the victims. It’s not a clear cut case.
Raccoon_Expert_69 on
I predicted all of this months ago.
Someone on Reddit was lamenting that we would never see the light of day with those files and I countered “you sure are putting a lot of faith in this administrations ability to actually censor something”.
And it’s true. The way in which they redacted the files is easily undone by anyone with passable knowledge of meta data.
Their lukewarm temperature IQ gophers are obviously going to miss names and photos of Trump when they are going through them at break neck speed. Anyone in those types of work environments will tell you if you don’t complete a task on time you just go onto the next one. 😂
brickout on
The Guardian talks like my 75 year old dad.
MoistService2607 on
Copy and paste isn’t a hack.
niknacks on
Epstein openly calls Trump a pedo in the files we can read, how much worse is the stuff that is being hidden from us?
AL1809 on
How do you do fellow hackers?
BlueCollarElectro on
Too fuckin funny
-Boomers and tech literacy is a winning combo amirite lmfao
TheMoorNextDoor on
It’s not hacks lmao
Tell me you’re over 50 years old without telling me you’re over 50 years old.
FirefighterEast9291 on
Has anyone considered that the files that you can uncover were done that way deliberately? It would be a good way to fuck over your enemies. Has any unredacted file seriously implicated Trump or his pals?
palmmoot on
The hacker known as “Ctrl + C” and “Ctrl + V”
Un1CornTowel on
>can be undone with Photoshop techniques, or by simply highlighting text to paste into a word processing file.
So… not “hacking” then. If the program is designed to allow it, and you have an “oops” moment and forget to erase underlying information, it isn’t “hacking” to copy and paste. It isn’t exceeding the authority or scope of access by the program, it’s exceeding your expectations as a total dumbshit that doesn’t know how redaction works. Those are different things.
41 Comments
Trumps Team is like those dumb villains in the movies
Copy and pasting redacted text into a word processor is not a “hack”.
This headline was also written by someone who redacted the files apparently
Good job Guardian, you really should have kept that shit on the DL.
i have a feeling it’s not actually stupidity, but an agent who was tasked to redact it got fed up and risked their job to do this hoping someone would find it out
Very clever government
If you listen carefully you can hear Nelson from the Simpsons in the background
I knew they were incompetent enough for this to happen
The just blocked all ability to search “Trump” in the files. Less than an hour ago you could search “Trump “ with a space and it worked, now it doesn’t. Not “Don” not “J. Trump”, not eve “J.”
Hi, this is Nikki from the Guardian US audience team. Here’s more from the story above.
*From The Guardian:*
People examining documents released by the Department of Justice in the [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jeffrey-epstein) case discovered that some of the file redaction can be undone with Photoshop techniques, or by simply highlighting text to paste into a word processing file.
Un-redacted text from these documents began circulating through social media on Monday evening. An [exhibit ](https://web.archive.org/web/20251219222621/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Matter%20of%20the%20Estate%20of%20Jeffrey%20E.%20Epstein,%20Deceased,%20No.%20ST-21-RV-00005%20(V.I.%20Super.%20Ct.%202021)/2022.03.17-1%20Exhibit%201.pdf)in a civil case in the Virgin Islands against Darren K Indyke and Richard D Kahn, two executors of Epstein’s estate, contains redacted allegations explaining how Epstein and his associates had facilitated the sexual abuse of children. The exhibit was the second amended complaint in the state case against Indyke and Kahn.
In section 85, the redacted portion states: “Between September 2015 and June 2019, Indyke signed (FAC) for over $400,000 made payable to young female models and actresses, including a former Russian model who received over $380,000 through monthly payments of $8,333 made over a period of more than three and a half years until the middle of 2019.”
Prosecutors in the Virgin Islands settled its civil sex-trafficking case against Epstein’s estate, Indyke and Kahn in 2022 for $105m , plus one half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St James, the island on which Epstein resided and on which many of his crimes occurred. The DoJ [press release](https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/) announcing the settlement did not include an admission of liability.
Indyke, an attorney who represented Epstein for decades, has not been criminally indicted by federal authorities. He was hired by the Parlatore Law Group in 2022, before the DoJ settled the Epstein case. That firm represents Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and previously represented Donald Trump in his defense against charges stemming from the discovery of classified government documents stored at Trump’s Florida estate. Calls and email seeking comment from Indyke and the Parlatore Law Group have not yet been returned.
Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities and any wrongdoing.
[You can read the full story for free at this link.](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/23/epstein-unredacted-files-social-media?referring_host=Reddit&utm_campaign=guardianacct)
I watched a guy do this on TikTok live last night. It was amusing as hell, but the content was disgusting.
Copy and paste an unflattened pdf is not a hack
I was hoping this was the case.
Access to these files will be shut down in 3…..2……
Everybody’s gotta open their big fucking mouth
No need to undo this though, they forgot to react the claim he was accessory to infanticide.
Page 3
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00025010.pdf
The people who figured this out should not have told anyone yet. Let the idiots release more files with their half-assed redactions first
“Indyke, an attorney who represented Epstein for decades, has not been criminally indicted by federal authorities. He was hired by the Parlatore Law Group in 2022, before the DoJ settled the Epstein case. That firm represents Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and previously represented Donald Trump in his defense against charges stemming from the discovery of classified government documents stored at Trump’s Florida estate”
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00025010.pdf
Spread this everywhere. Document EFTA00025010.
why would this be redacted?
“Redactions of sections 184 through 192 of the document describe property taxes paid by companies incorporated by Epstein on properties that were not on the balance sheet for those firms.
“For instance, Cypress’s Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 did not reflect any assets other than cash of $18,824. Further, Cypress reported only $301 in expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018, despite it paying $106,394.60 in Santa Fe property taxes on November 6, 2018,” reads one redacted passage.
“Similarly, in 2017, Cypress reported as its only asset cash in the amount of $29,736 and expenses of $150, despite it paying $55,770.41 and $113,679.56 in Santa Fe property taxes during 2017.””
I’ve previously worked at an e-discovery company. The fact that these weren’t flattened is a stunning failure.
For people saying hacked is kind of loose. Check this shit out. Certain files you can also put through a python script that some dude on LAW built, print it and then rescan it with a copy machine to reconvert it as a .PDF and it will make the boxes readable. So, it’s not just the copy paste method floating about.
The most significant unredacted information concerns Darren K. Indyke, a longtime attorney and executor of Epstein’s estate.
This confirms that Epstein’s financial network was actively supporting young women through his lawyer/executor well into 2019, the year Epstein was arrested and died.
All of which highlights a political web connecting Epstein’s inner circle to the current political landscape:
• Darren Indyke (Epstein’s executor) is represented by the Parlatore Law Group.
• This firm also represents Pete Hegseth (the current Defense Secretary) and previously represented Donald Trump in the classified documents case.
• While Indyke himself has not been criminally indicted (he settled the Virgin Islands civil sex-trafficking case for $105 million in 2022 with no admission of liability), his proximity to the President’s legal defense team creates a complex conflict of interest and political headache for the administration.
The revelation of $380,000 paid to a single “Russian model” suggests a deep, ongoing financial relationship. The consistent monthly payments of ~$8,333 look less like one-off transactions for services and more like a salary or hush money (allowance). This supports the long-standing allegation that Epstein’s “structure” of abuse and financial control continued uninterrupted by his 2008 conviction.
While the Virgin Islands case was settled, these unredacted details could spur new inquiries. If the payments were for illicit purposes (sex trafficking or silence regarding crimes), they could theoretically open avenues for new civil suits or scrutiny, although Indyke’s prior settlement was comprehensive.
I’ve had to redact a document without access to acrobat pro or some other tool to do it a foolproof way. So I loaded it in inkscape and deleted the text before making a black box over the blank space. Finally I checked for the strings I deleted with a grep command.
It always amazes me when it turns out I’m more competent than people with thousands of times the power that I have.
Then again, Im not a fucking idiot like people in the Trump administration.
What’s crazy about this is there are tons of document review softwares that lawyers and paralegals use everyday that make sure this exact thing doesn’t happen. Instead of using that software which they certainly had they drew black boxes over things with whatever software and assumed it was good.
Wish this started after more was released. They definitely won’t release more because of this.
It bothers me more that the DOJ has actively broken the ability to search for Trump and his associates, redacted their names over every document released but actively left the names of the victims unredacted in a large amount of the files. I mean, we know it’s a coverup, but it’s so fucking blatant it’s disgusting.
I’ve been saying it for year, be thankful this administration is as incompetent as it is
You mean the ones that were just highlighted in black, that you can just paste into another document to see them?
Don’t even have to “hack”. They made a mistake from the early 2000’s and used insecure redaction methods. I can only guess one of two situations happened there… they put someone incompetent on the task, which wouldn’t be surprising… as they have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mouth breathers in their ranks… or… somebody’s a slightly tech savvy patriot who wanted the stuff to be reversible.
Hackerman
My wife pointed out something very important and it had not give full thought to.
Please if anyone is going to post unredacted information, make sure the victim’s names are still blacked out. They do not deserve to be a victim twice.
I want nothing more than to see the monsters in this file brought to justice, and I’ll admit I am torn in terms of the urge to see justice and the rights of the victims. It’s not a clear cut case.
I predicted all of this months ago.
Someone on Reddit was lamenting that we would never see the light of day with those files and I countered “you sure are putting a lot of faith in this administrations ability to actually censor something”.
And it’s true. The way in which they redacted the files is easily undone by anyone with passable knowledge of meta data.
Their lukewarm temperature IQ gophers are obviously going to miss names and photos of Trump when they are going through them at break neck speed. Anyone in those types of work environments will tell you if you don’t complete a task on time you just go onto the next one. 😂
The Guardian talks like my 75 year old dad.
Copy and paste isn’t a hack.
Epstein openly calls Trump a pedo in the files we can read, how much worse is the stuff that is being hidden from us?
How do you do fellow hackers?
Too fuckin funny
-Boomers and tech literacy is a winning combo amirite lmfao
It’s not hacks lmao
Tell me you’re over 50 years old without telling me you’re over 50 years old.
Has anyone considered that the files that you can uncover were done that way deliberately? It would be a good way to fuck over your enemies. Has any unredacted file seriously implicated Trump or his pals?
The hacker known as “Ctrl + C” and “Ctrl + V”
>can be undone with Photoshop techniques, or by simply highlighting text to paste into a word processing file.
So… not “hacking” then. If the program is designed to allow it, and you have an “oops” moment and forget to erase underlying information, it isn’t “hacking” to copy and paste. It isn’t exceeding the authority or scope of access by the program, it’s exceeding your expectations as a total dumbshit that doesn’t know how redaction works. Those are different things.