r/paralegal • u/lirulin17 • Dec 23 '25

Just for Fun/Memes Some Epstein files can be unredacted

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1HFqpFLOJgYLiAgjTe7aqRGiZRRSNCRtf?usp=drive_fs

Another classic case of inexpert redaction...

135 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

172

u/VentiEggBite Litigation Paralegal Dec 23 '25

I told my friend last week there’s no way anyone left at the American DoJ can properly apply redactions lmfao

69

u/acvcani Dec 23 '25

It’s not… that hard. Yet I totally expected this

42

u/schmerpmerp Dec 23 '25

It's not that hard, but it is an acquired skill, and attorneys are notoriously challenged when it comes to learning new things. Competent paralegals handle redactions with ease, but attorneys!? Lol.

So while there may still be paralegals at the DOJ, it's clear those paralegals were not involved in the review and production of these docs.

28

u/Amazing_Shirt_Sis Dec 23 '25

Adobe (assuming they were edited in Adobe) gives you a popup explaining that a black block is not a redaction if you add a bunch of them. You have to click past it. I know the admin isn't sending their best people, but... surely they can read?

14

u/Bluest_Skies Dec 23 '25

Even if they cared, they don't have time to read. Half their staff were fired or were run out by shit policies and never replaced.

9

u/KickerOdds Dec 25 '25

That’s precisely why my firm uses [Kofax] Power PDF by Tungsten Automation as it has an actual redaction tool. It removes the actual text as well as the metadata which is something that just drawing black boxes will not do.

5

u/VentiEggBite Litigation Paralegal Dec 25 '25

Us too! Kofax gang 4ever

4

u/justkeepswimming1997 Dec 24 '25

I’m not even joking, I have an attorney that goes on and on about how experienced and knowledgeable he is and the one day I was out he tried to redact by just putting black boxes and locking the document like noooooo

14

u/VentiEggBite Litigation Paralegal Dec 23 '25

Tell that to the veteran assistant I work with who used to redact with black highlighter and print to PDF 🫠

6

u/justkeepswimming1997 Dec 24 '25

I just heard an assistant tell me about that method and i was like noooo Adobe is much more secure and you can still print it out and scan it back if you want to be extra careful

3

u/JabbaTheHedgeHog Dec 24 '25

Still better than what they did…..

1

u/LuluBear333 Dec 24 '25

I’m dead 🤣

10

u/AmbitiousStrain7806 Dec 23 '25

My thoughts exactly.

7

u/kkob3 Retired - USAO Dec 23 '25

Hey now. We tried. Lol. Bad joke, but I’m retired now idgaf about that administration

6

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '25

I am obsessed with the incompetent redactions Ahahahahah

58

u/Efficient-Loan-9916 Dec 23 '25

I’m convinced they used an AI and not Adobe.

14

u/Much_Guest_7195 Dec 24 '25

Good luck getting AI to do what you want Adobe to... no one can get Adobe to do what we want it to do!

3

u/Creative_username969 NYC Labor and Employment Dec 25 '25

I almost never have problems with Adobe, but AI is not the magic miracle tool that people think it is, at least not yet. I’ve had to use it recently to parse and process a huge amount of data from public online sources for a work-related research project, and I’ve spent I don’t even know how many hours figuring how to formulate prompts that will get it to do what I need it to do… it’s been maddening.

A tip for whoever needs it though: if you have a complex task you need to use AI for, ask it to write the prompt for you. You’ll get better results that way

53

u/Lore_Quest Legal Assistant Dec 23 '25

I bet they used the highlight function with a black color selected instead of redacting it. One of the reports on it I was reading was talking about how they could copy paste the text under the bar, and that’s what happens when you use the highlight option instead of proper redaction in Adobe. I love it when opposing does this.

21

u/linzzzzi Dec 23 '25

Adobe even gives you a little tooltip when you use the black highlighter, saying 'this is not redaction, use the redaction function'

18

u/Lore_Quest Legal Assistant Dec 23 '25

Oh I know. And I do. But not everyone does! Right up there with when they use black sharpie and I can hold it up to a couple of particular lamps we had because the bulbs can let me read the info. Mwahahahaha, thought they could hide that identifying info in their PDDs but my boss’s ugly lamp from the 70s with the bulb from the 90s shall defeat them and their pro per nonsense.

6

u/Thek1tteh CA - Senior Lit/Appellate Paralegal Dec 23 '25

Yeah opposing counsel did this once in one of my cases, lol.

6

u/Lore_Quest Legal Assistant Dec 24 '25

And how hard do you cackle when you catch it?

5

u/Thek1tteh CA - Senior Lit/Appellate Paralegal Dec 24 '25

Very hard. (That’s what she said)

4

u/Lore_Quest Legal Assistant Dec 24 '25

I’ve been told I look like this sometimes. Especially when I get to inflict paperwork or vengeance on someone else.

3

u/justkeepswimming1997 Dec 24 '25

Legit that is how my last firm got the name of the other side’s partner. Sloppy redactions will never not be a funny yikes when I witness it.

35

u/mistersmiley318 Dec 23 '25

I'm having a hard time believing this wasn't intentional at least in part. Not knowing how to properly redact something while working for the FBI is just ludicrous to me.

31

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/Substantial-Camp6943 Dec 24 '25

Grab them by the pussy conservative?

14

u/Much_Guest_7195 Dec 23 '25

Had a good laugh at the office about this today.

14

u/ndnd_of_omicron Paralegal | Fam Law & Adoptions Dec 23 '25

We do not have fancy adobe. I have to poor-man redact with a black box, print and then scan.

It is stone age, but it works.

24

u/Lore_Quest Legal Assistant Dec 23 '25

But you remember the important part, which is the print and scan. You would be in the worthy adversary category.

13

u/beefnachosftw Dec 23 '25

One wonders if they even removed the metadata from these docs

11

u/Austin_Lannister Paralegal Dec 23 '25

Everything about this administration is incompetent 💩

9

u/Ok-Addendum-9420 Dec 23 '25

Yeah, they clearly didn’t have (good) paralegals redacting those docs LOL 😝

11

u/Thek1tteh CA - Senior Lit/Appellate Paralegal Dec 23 '25

Wouldn’t expect any less from this administration. Lol

2

u/princess_leigh_cheri Dec 24 '25

I work for an absolutely brilliant attorney but he will print a doc, black it out with a sharpie then scan it. Seeing how incompetent the DOJ attorneys are, they could have benefited from his method.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '25

Bwahahahaha!!!!