FBI Director Kash Patel has been accused of threatening staff charged with redacting the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, and using their mistakes as an excuse to fire them.
In a complaint made in March 2025 and obtained and published Tuesday by The PunchUp, a whistleblower who worked for the FBI’s Information Management Division described the chaotic, high-pressure process of readacting the Epstein files for release.
“The director has threatened to fire [FBI staff] if the job is not done by his made up deadline, and has already tried to slim down the FBI,” the whistleblower wrote. “What better way than to fire us during this ever changing process, or as scapegoats for the DOJ’s lack of proper procedures.”
The complaint came as the Department of Justice shed thousands of employees.
John Sullivan, former section chief in the intelligence division, told The New York Times in January that Patel had berated employees on the redaction team during a conference call, telling them to work faster and that he’d fire anyone who didn’t meet his deadlines—a claim that is now reinforced by the whistleblower’s accusation.
The whistleblower also warned that reviewers were not removing personal information that could be used to identify bureau employees, and that details they’d be instructed to leave unredacted could expose survivors’ identities. The whistleblower raised concerns that the DOJ would publish the material without further checks and blame the FBI for any mistakes.
“I am concerned that the rush deadline on the project, for no [discernible] reason, will lead to mistakes that could destroy people’s lives,” they wrote.
Catherine Sheehan Bruno, assistant FBI director and chief ethics and compliance officer, responded to the complaint on March 24, 2025, saying she was obliged to report the allegations. The following day, an FBI lawyer confirmed that the employee was willing to be identified to the inspector general. Then the FBI closed its own case. It’s unclear whether the inspector general took the matter any further or whether anyone charged with reviewing the Epstein files was subsequently fired.
In the end, there were thousands of redaction errors in the DOJ’s massive release of Epstein-related documents, which allegedly exposed the names of at least 100 survivors. Nearly 40 nude photos of women, possibly underage, were mistakenly released unredacted, while an innocuous photo of President Donald Trump somehow was redacted.