Trump administration spent $850K in overtime for FBI review of Epstein files

New information revealed by Bloomberg and reported by multiple media outlets offers telling details about how the president and his administration have handled the Epstein files since his return to power.

According to these reports, including coverage by Raw Story, we learn that the Trump administration spent 850,000 dollars in FBI overtime to pay agents to comb through Jeffrey Epstein's records.

An intensive review

This decision raises new questions about the real reasons behind such an intensive review, especially after months in which Trump was dogged by the shadow of the Epstein files he largely refused to release, until an almost unanimous, bipartisan vote in the House and a unanimous vote in the Senate finally forced their disclosure.

Investigative reporter Jason Leopold of Bloomberg News obtained a behind-the-scenes look at how the FBI handled the review and redaction of the Epstein files under the Trump administration. Following his Freedom of Information Act request to the bureau, Leopold received internal records that shed light on the internal discussions around what would be blacked out, how fast the review needed to move, and how closely the process was being overseen.

The documents Leopold obtained shed light on how roughly 1,000 FBI special agents were deployed in March, under FBI Director Kash Patel, to support the bureau's FOIA team at the FBI's Central Records Complex in Winchester, Virginia. Inside the bureau, this surge of agents was folded into a dedicated effort called the «Special Redaction Project», focused on reviewing and redacting the Epstein files ahead of their public release.

According to these documents, the agents were assigned to work side by side with the FOIA staff to review and redact the Epstein files, including the names of victims and other sensitive personal information, as part of the Special Redaction Project.

According to Bloomberg, FBI personnel assigned to the Special Redaction Project received specific training on redaction protocols, including instructional videos and PowerPoint presentations designed to guide them through the process.

What would ultimately be revealed

Among the information revealed by Jason Leopold, based on records he obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, are internal emails showing that agents reviewed a wide range of materials, including search warrant execution photos, street surveillance video and aerial footage from FBI search warrant execution.

In an email on March 10, FBI personnel from the Office of General Counsel and the bureau's Information Management Division discussed pending FOIA requests for Epstein-related records, the digitizing and redacting of physical files and the bureau's commitment to transparency in handling the Epstein documents.

Leopold's reporting also shows that the FBI paid personnel from various divisions, including counterintelligence and international operations, 851,344 dollars in overtime for working on the Epstein files between March 17 and March 22.

FBI personnel clocked in a total of 4,737 hours of overtime between January and July, and more than 70% of that overtime was logged during the month of March while personnel reviewed the Epstein files.

All of this has made the Special Redaction Project both logistically heavy and highly sensitive, given the intense political stakes over what would ultimately be revealed and what would remain blacked out – including, for Trump's critics and supporters alike, the question of whether his name will appear in the Epstein files at all after the extensive review overseen by Kash Patel's FBI.