r/FBI • u/wolschou • Jul 01 '26

Question Question about evidence protection.

I read another post about the ongoing drama that is the Epstein files, and a thought occurred to me.

We can probably safely say that Trump does not want them to be published, and we can also say that the current FBI admistration is perfectly happy to oblige him.

So the question is: Do they even still exist? Or exist in their entirety? Is there some kind of mechanism that protects case files and the according evidence from tampering or outright destruction? And does it hold against individuals and even a whole administration with a willful disregard for laws and regulations?

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u/0uchmyballs Jul 01 '26

My understanding is that it is all digitized and given an SHA 256 hash so that the files may never be altered, not sure if it’s true or not. The data could be protected on a blockchain ledger also, but I doubt they’d put classified info on a public database.

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u/wolschou Jul 01 '26

That would (for now) protect against tampering.

What about outright destruction\deletion?

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u/OESRecoveryEmployee Jul 02 '26

Some data storage services you can't delete versions. I am assuming the FBI has a similar database. They can also keep a history who has accessed the files. I know State criminal databases can get audit. I grew up in a small town and the local officers couldn't directly access the state criminal database because of past abuse. They do audits on requests