The Removed Death Investigation Documents
What 3,034 Pages of Federal Records Reveal About the Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's Death
The Removed Death Investigation Documents
What 3,034 Pages of Federal Records Reveal About the Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's DeathExecutive Summary
Between late 2025 and early 2026, the Department of Justice removed approximately 64,000 documents from its public Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) database on justice.gov. Among the removed documents are records that constitute the core federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019.
As of February 24, 2026, 16 death investigation documents totaling approximately 1,987 pages remain offline. Two additional documents — the BOP Psychological Reconstruction (1,000 pages) and the July 23 first incident documentation (47 pages) — were restored to justice.gov on February 24, 2026, after a period of removal.
The documents that remain removed include:
- The FBI FD-302 death investigation serial containing at least 11 witness interviews (476 pages)
- BOP TRUINTEL operational logs from the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was held (1,395 pages across two documents)
- Four copies of the BOP Form 583 incident report for the death (88 pages total)
- FBI interviews with three BOP officers about the cellmate chain-of-command failure (15 pages)
- The OIG evidence disposition memo documenting 18 hard drives seized from MCC's camera system (2 pages)
- The OIG forensic examination of a correctional officer's phones that exonerated him (2 pages)
- The FBI's one-page death investigation timeline
- The MCC SHU inmate roster and the guards' indictment press release email
The EFTA's stated exceptions for withholding documents are: child sexual abuse material, victim personally identifying information, active law enforcement investigations, classified national security information, and images depicting the death or sexual abuse of a victim. None of these exceptions apply to institutional records about the investigation of a death inside a federal prison. No victims were housed at MCC New York.
The text of all these documents — including the period during which they were removed — is preserved in the full text corpus and summarized below.
The Three Federal Investigations
Three separate federal investigations examined Epstein's death, each with a different scope and set of conclusions:
1. The FBI Death Investigation (August 2019 – ongoing)FBI case number 90A-NY-3151227, opened with Epstein classified as the victim and the subject listed as "UNSUB(S)" — unknown subject(s). The FBI conducted witness interviews, collected physical evidence, and coordinated with the medical examiner. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging. (EFTA00132208, p. 0 | OCR)
2. The DOJ Office of Inspector General Investigation (August 2019 – June 2023)The OIG conducted a four-year investigation and published its 127-page report on June 27, 2023, finding "numerous and serious failures" by MCC staff. (CNN, Washington Post) The OIG report remains available both on the OIG website and as EFTA01656708 on justice.gov.
3. The SDNY Criminal Prosecution of MCC Guards (November 2019 – January 2022)Correctional Officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were indicted in November 2019 for falsifying prison records. In May 2021, both entered deferred prosecution agreements requiring 100 hours of community service. Charges were dismissed in January 2022. (NPR)
Additionally, in early 2025, the FBI conducted an evidence review of all seized materials from the Epstein investigation, reporting to Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino that "no videos of any sexual abuse [were] identified at any point in the investigation" (EFTA00164742, p. 0). The review also documented that MCC had 147 cameras capturing 8.08 TB of data, but "the cameras in the Special Housing Unit, where Epstein was located, were not active at the time" (EFTA00164855, p. 0).
Chronology of the Death Investigation
The following timeline is reconstructed from the removed documents themselves, cross-referenced with the publicly available OIG report and court filings. Each entry cites its source.
July 6, 2019: Arrest and Intake
Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport returning from Paris and entered MCC New York at 9:24 p.m. He was initially placed in general population. (EFTA00041963, p. 5)
The next evening, he was moved to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at approximately 7:20 p.m. due to media coverage and inmate awareness of his identity. The TRUINTEL log records his arrival: "Inmate: 76318054 - EPSTEIN, JEFFREY" with a visual search conducted at 7:21 p.m. (EFTA00120887, p. 56 | OCR)
July 8-10: Intake Screening Failures
Epstein's intake psychological screening was delayed beyond the required 24-hour window. Dr. Kari Schlessinger completed a Risk of Sexual Abusiveness document with an inaccurate affirmative mark for "History of prior prison sexual predation." Epstein was placed on Psychological Observation. (EFTA00041963, p. 6)
He was removed from Psychological Observation on July 10.
July 18: Bail Denial
Epstein was denied bail. The BOP Psychological Reconstruction identifies this as "a significant disappointment" that "likely challenged his ability and willingness to adapt to incarceration." Despite BOP policy requiring psychological assessment after adverse legal events (the PSY ALERT protocol), no psychologist assessed him afterward. (EFTA00041963, p. 8)
July 23, 2019: The First Incident
At approximately 1:27 a.m., officers responded to noise from M Tier in the SHU. The TRUINTEL log entry, written by the responding officer, records:
"At approximately 1:27 AM Officer Masullo and I heard some noise coming from M Tier. When responding we observed Inmate Epstein reg# 76318-054 with a handmade orange rope around his neck. I immediately called for Staff assistance to control center. Officer Masullo provided assistance to Inmate Epstein while I searched his cellmate Inmate Tartaglione reg# 78514-054. When additional staff arrived inmate Epstein was removed from the unit without further incident."
(EFTA00120887, p. 159 | OCR)
Epstein's cellmate was Nicholas Tartaglione (Reg. #78514-054), a former police officer charged with quadruple murder. There is a documented discrepancy in descriptions of the item: the TRUINTEL log calls it a "handmade orange rope," while Officer Silva's memorandum describes "a piece of handmade orange cloth" (EFTA00041963, p. 12).
Inmate Frederico Rancier-Medrano, housed on the same tier, told the FBI he heard the commotion: "The guy's cellmate was screaming and banging on the cell door to get the SHU Officers' attention." Medrano reported that Tartaglione's cellmate said "he thought the guy had died." (EFTA00132208, pp. 197-198 | OCR)
Epstein's own account was inconsistent. He told the psychologist he was "fearful to return to his cell with TARTAGLIONE because TARTAGLIONE had called him a pedophile" and that "TARTAGLIONE had been playing with a bedsheet before EPSTEIN fell asleep, and then next thing EPSTEIN remembered was waking up snoring." (EFTA00132208, p. 60 | OCR)
The MCC Chief Psychologist told the FBI she "was not any clearer on which of her hypotheses might have been true. EPSTEIN could have been using his charm to create doubt about what happened." (EFTA00132208, p. 60 | OCR)
The BOP incident report coding the July 23 event as "228 - Self Mutilation" was expunged by August 15, 2019. The BOP Psychological Reconstruction notes: "it is unclear why it had been expunged and whether Mr. Epstein knew this." (EFTA00041963, p. 7)
Medrano also told the FBI that guards mocked Epstein: "Officers would say that he could buy his freedom." (EFTA00132208, p. 197 | OCR)
July 23-29: Suicide Watch and Removal
Epstein was placed on formal Suicide Watch at approximately 1:40 a.m. on July 23. He was removed after 31 hours and 5 minutes and stepped down to Psychological Observation on July 24. (EFTA00132208, p. 95 | OCR)
Every BOP psychology assessment rated his chronic suicide risk as "Absent." Acute risk was "Low" on July 9, stepped up to "Moderate" on July 23 (the night of the incident), then returned to "Low" on July 24 — where it remained through the final assessment on August 1, nine days before his death. (EFTA00132208, pp. 77, 82, 93, 96, 111 | OCR)
On two occasions, July 26 and 27, Epstein "described himself as a coward and as someone who does not like pain." (EFTA00041963, p. 9)
On July 28, he told Dr. Imeri that the toilet in his cell "would not stop flushing for an extended period of time," and he "took to sitting in the corner with his hands over his ears." He complained of numbness in his right arm and neck. (EFTA00041963, p. 9)
On July 29, Epstein was presented with a choice: remain in Psychological Observation without his CPAP machine (the cord was not permitted), or return to the SHU with it. He "chose to stay in Psychological Observation one more night" without it, then returned to the SHU on July 30 with his CPAP. (EFTA00132208, p. 61 | OCR)
August 9, 2019: The Cellmate Gap and the Phone Call
After the July 23 incident, BOP policy required Epstein to have a cellmate at all times. Efrain Reyes (Reg. #85993-054) was assigned as the replacement cellmate. On August 9, Reyes was transferred to court for a hearing in his own case and did not return. (EFTA00132208, p. 17 | OCR)
Staff were informed at approximately 1:50 p.m. that the cellmate would likely not return. A lieutenant told the FBI he "informed his direct subordinate that EPSTEIN needed another bunkie. They were short staffed that day." The subordinate replied: "I got it." No new cellmate was ever assigned. The message "was spread by word of mouth" — no emails or other communications documented the handoff. (EFTA00132208, p. 48 | OCR)
The same lieutenant also advised that "Corrections Officer THOMAS didn't receive the training." (EFTA00132208, p. 48 | OCR)
That same day, thousands of documents were unsealed in the Giuffre v. Maxwell civil defamation case.
The phone call. That evening, Epstein terminated his legal visit early to make a phone call. According to the BOP Psychological Reconstruction:"Mr. Bullock (who was the Institutional Duty Officer that week) escorted Mr. Epstein to SHU around 7:00 p.m. that evening and he was placed in the shower area on G tier. While there, he was provided the telephone to make a call. Since Mr. Epstein reportedly did not have his PAC or PIN number, which is required to use the inmate telephone system, the Unit Manager placed the call, dialing a number that reportedly began with area code 347. Mr. Epstein told Mr. Bullock he was calling his mother who, according to public records, has been deceased since 2004."
(EFTA00041963, p. 14)
A congressional OIG interview transcript provides additional details. A retired BOP Regional Director testified:
"This call was done on an unmonitored line. [...] It is extremely concerning why this call would have been placed, and why it would be done on an unmonitored line."
The transcript also reveals that when the Unit Manager dialed the 347 number, "a man answered" — despite Epstein's claim that he was calling his mother. The Unit Manager "handed the phone to Epstein, and then left for the day." He "did not specifically instruct anyone of them to monitor the phone call." (EFTA00061927, pp. 62-64)
A second OIG witness characterized the phone call's significance: "It could have potentially led to the incident, but we don't, we will never know." (EFTA00115642, p. 67)
Public reporting has identified the call recipient as Karyna Shuliak, described as Epstein's girlfriend and a primary estate beneficiary. (Yahoo News)
The BOP Reconstruction also notes: "a review of financial transactions associated with Mr. Epstein's prison account revealed one of his attorneys was depositing funds into his cellmate's (inmate Reyes) commissary account for unknown reasons." (EFTA00041963, p. 7)
The FBI's one-page death investigation timeline records only two entries for August 9: "Epstein's cellmate Efrain Reyes released" and "Epstein last observed on video returning to Special Housing Unit (SHU) at approximately 7:49pm." (EFTA00163686, p. 0 | OCR)
August 10, 2019: Discovery
At approximately 6:33 a.m., a body alarm was activated in the SHU. Officers found Epstein unresponsive in cell #220 on L Tier. (EFTA00109863, p. 9 | OCR)
Clinical Nurse J. Ono's memorandum, filed that morning:
"On Saturday, Aug 10, 2019, at approximately 0633 a.m., I responded to a medical emergency 9S, upon arrival Inmate (EPSTEIN, J. Reg #: 76318-054) was received on the floor of his cell unresponsive with CPR in progress by correctional officers, Inmate was Cold, with circumferential Bruising around the neck and posterior mottling, Pupils Fixed and dilated, No Palpable pulses were felt."
An AED was placed — no shock was advised. The cardiac monitor showed asystole (flat line). Paramedics intubated Epstein and administered three rounds of epinephrine. He was transported to New York Presbyterian – Lower Manhattan Hospital at approximately 7:10 a.m. and pronounced dead at 7:36 a.m. (EFTA00109863, p. 12 | OCR)
Inmate Johnny Contreras, housed on L Tier, provided an eyewitness account to the FBI:
"The Guard then tried to pick up EPSTEIN from behind, with his arms wrapped around EPSTEIN. Both the Guard and EPSTEIN fell back to the floor, with EPSTEIN falling to the side of the Guard. [...] The Guard then started giving EPSTEIN chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth. At this point the Guard said 'Fuck!' and asked the female Guard, who was standing near the L Tier gate, if she had pressed the button. The female Guard said 'Yeah, a long time ago.'"
Contreras also told the FBI that "EPSTEIN did not have any marks around his neck and he didn't see a rope around EPSTEIN's neck," and that his cellmate "made a comment that EPSTEIN didn't hang himself because he didn't have the typical injuries." (EFTA00132208, p. 173 | OCR)
A Lieutenant at the hospital "instructed the escorting staff not to speak to anyone and or the media in regards to the situation" and "directed my staff to tell anyone making inquiries, to direct their questions to the MCC NY Public Relations Officer." (EFTA00109863, p. 13 | OCR)
The OCME took custody of the remains at 12:57 p.m. (EFTA00109863, p. 14 | OCR)
The Institutional Failures
The removed documents reveal a cascading series of institutional failures that, taken together, describe an environment in which effective monitoring was essentially absent.
SENTRY Records Chaos
At the time of Epstein's death, the BOP's SENTRY computer system — the official record of inmate cell assignments — showed three inmates assigned to his double-occupancy cell: "Inmate Patrick Avila (#86710-054), inmate Gregory Ferrer (#79793-054), and Mr. Epstein." Neither Avila nor Ferrer was actually housed there. Meanwhile, SENTRY "never shows him in this cell" — the system did not reflect Epstein's actual location in cell 220L. (EFTA00041963, p. 16)
Monitoring Failures
The BOP Psychological Reconstruction documented that during Epstein's time on Psychological Observation following the July 23 incident, 179 out of 183 required round signatures were missing (97.8%). A lieutenant was required to sign the log book once per shift; signatures were missing in 10 of 23 instances. A Physician Assistant was required to sign once per shift; all 16 of 16 signatures were missing — a 100% failure rate. (EFTA00041963, p. 14)
The MCC Captain told the FBI that the TRUSCOPE electronic logging system — which records when officers complete rounds — had "no entries of counts in TRUSCOPE the entire night" of August 9-10. (EFTA00039972, p. 5)
The MCC Chief Psychologist told the FBI she "was unaware regular rounds by the correctional officers were not being completed. She is considered executive staff, so officers would not tell her they were not being completed, and inmates wouldn't tell her because of fear of retaliation by the guards." (EFTA00132208, p. 62 | OCR)
Log Book Manipulation
The BOP Reconstruction documents an instance of evidence manipulation: an officer on Suicide Watch used the wrong log book. A Drug Treatment Specialist subsequently "hand copied all of Officer [redacted]'s entries from 1:40 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. into a Staff Suicide Watch Log Book. She then initialed these entries, and this makes it appear as if she was the one conducting the watch." She then added entries for "6:15, 6:30, 6:45 and 7:00 a.m." — entries that "were not a part of the original entries" and for shifts she was "not assigned to work." This was discovered via an internal email on August 12, 2019. (EFTA00041963, p. 663)
Additionally, four attorney visit log books "could not be accounted for" after the death. "Staff could not explain their logging system." (EFTA00041963, p. 16)
The Cellmate Policy Failure
A unit manager told the FBI that the requirement for Epstein to have a cellmate at all times was "not provided in writing" and was "passed by word of mouth." (EFTA00135165 | OCR)
A lieutenant who had been on duty told the FBI he did not inform the relieving shift that Epstein was without a cellmate. (EFTA00135513 | OCR)
A BOP captain told the FBI he directed that Epstein "needed a cellmate at all times" after the July 23 incident. (EFTA00135207 | OCR)
The chain broke at each link: the order was verbal, the handoff was incomplete, the subordinate who said "I got it" did not follow through, and neither of the officers on duty that night (Noel and Thomas) were told.
The Camera System
DVR 2, which stored SHU security camera footage, experienced a hard disk failure on July 29, 2019 — twelve days before the death. The failure was not discovered until August 8. It was not repaired by August 10. The OIG found that "nearly all cameras in and around the SHU failed to record starting late July 2019." (OIG Report, pp. 73-82)
The OIG evidence disposition memo (dated December 19, 2024) documents that the OIG eventually seized "18 Hard Drives seized from MCC New York NICE VISION Camera System" along with DVR system components, round sheets, personnel files, suicide watch logs, and Epstein's CPAP machine. The camera hardware was seized on May 3, 2022 — nearly three years after the death. The evidence was transferred to BOP custody at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn. (EFTA00123409 | OCR)
The Guards
The daily assignment roster for August 10, 2019, shows both Officers Noel and Thomas assigned to overnight SHU posts on overtime — not their regular assignment. Noel was simultaneously listed under "Sick Leave." (EFTA00109863, p. 24 | OCR)
A Lieutenant told the FBI that the two officers "admitted to her they did not complete rounds, the 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM counts, and that Officer [redacted] entered EPSTEIN's cell without supervision." (EFTA00039972, p. 4)
The OIG forensic examination of CO Thomas's personal phones (three Samsung Galaxy S9 devices) found no unauthorized communications with inmates, media, or outside parties. This document, which exonerated Thomas of a specific line of inquiry, was among those removed from justice.gov. (EFTA00087827 | OCR)
The Aftermath
Document Shredding
Six days after Epstein's death, a federal corrections officer at MCC called the FBI's National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) to report that a BOP After-Actions team was destroying records:
"[He] helped throw the bags of shredded papers, around 4 or 5 bags, [was bringing them through] the gate to throw into the dumpster."
The officer reported that a staff member told him: "Make sure you get that box too." The next day, another bag of shredded materials was brought to the dumpster. The officer reported the staff "were very nice to him, but they wouldn't let him leave the area." He warned: "if anyone cares about what was shredded, it needs picked up before Monday by 8am."
(EFTA00068331, pp. 0-1)
The same day, the OIG forwarded an independent corroboration to the U.S. Attorney's office:
"He stated that members of the BOP after action team that were investigating what happened with the Epstein suicide were shredding boxes of paperwork. He stated, 'they are shredding everything.'"
Within 43 minutes, a prosecutor at the Southern District of New York responded: "Can we take a look at the dumpster ASAP to see if the paper is still in there? Possible they didn't dump it yet." (EFTA00092927)
The EFTA corpus shows that prosecutors subsequently researched 18 U.S.C. § 1519 — the federal obstruction statute governing destruction of records in connection with a federal investigation — indicating they considered whether the shredding constituted a crime. (EFTA00089106)
No charges were filed in connection with the shredding.
The BOP Psychological Reconstruction
The BOP produced its mandated "Psychological Reconstruction of Inmate Death" per Program Statement 5324.08, prepared by the National Suicide Prevention Coordinator. The document, transmitted on October 4, 2019, was explicitly labeled an "interim report" because:
- No formal interviews were conducted to avoid interfering with the FBI and OIG investigations
- No video was available — the FBI had confiscated all footage before the reconstruction began
The report acknowledged that these absences "severely limited the ability to establish accurate timelines, confirm subjective reports, establish converging and diverging lines of facts." (EFTA00041963, p. 5)
The reconstruction made 13 formal recommendations addressing systemic failures including: mandatory double-celling for inmates with mental health histories, inclusion of psychologists in cellmate decisions, accuracy in documentation, monitoring of phone calls, post-bail-denial assessments, inmate accountability in SENTRY, securing of attorney log books, and staffing improvements.
The New York Times obtained the core 15-page report through FOIA litigation and published it in November 2021). The EFTA version is a 1,000-page production that includes the core report embedded within hundreds of BOP internal emails, media inquiries, Google Alerts, staff communications, and suicide watch log entries. This document was removed from justice.gov and subsequently restored on February 24, 2026. (CNN, November 2021)
The Staffing Crisis
The removed staff rosters and TRUINTEL logs reveal the scale of MCC's operational dysfunction. The July 23 staff roster shows only 113 correctional services staff with 9 AWOL. Rosters are filled with extensive overtime entries ("OT"), unassigned posts, and sick leave notations. An independent expert report embedded within the BOP reconstruction (prepared for a British solicitor in the Motiwala extradition case) stated that MCC had a population of 763 in a facility designed for 474, with staff working 60-70 hour weeks and less than 70% of needed correctional officers on duty. (EFTA00041963, pp. 225-240)
What Was Removed vs. What Remains
The pattern of removal separates the official conclusions from the underlying evidence:
Still Available on justice.gov
| Document | EFTA | Pages | Content |
| ---------- | ------ | ------- | --------- |
| OIG Investigation Report | EFTA01656708 | 128 | The public summary of findings |
| FBI Case Summary | EFTA01656152 | 20 | FBI briefing document |
| Noel/Thomas Indictment | EFTA00010968 | 20 | The public charging document |
| Minute-by-Minute Timeline | EFTA00033799 | 4 | Death night chronology |
| Medical Emergency Records | EFTA00033611, EFTA00033613 | 3 | Clinical encounter, medical memo |
| OIG Interviews (Phone Call) | EFTA00061927, EFTA00115642 | 211 | Congressional OIG testimony about the unmonitored call |
| FBI Crisis Intake (Shredding) | EFTA00068331 | 2 | "4-5 bags of shredded documents" |
| Shredding Follow-up Emails | EFTA00078396, EFTA00092927 | 2 | OIG forward and USAO response |
| 2025 FBI Evidence Review | EFTA00164742, EFTA00164855 | 4 | "No videos of any sexual abuse" |
| TRUSCOPE Count Failure 302 | EFTA00039972 | 6 | "No entries of counts in TRUSCOPE the entire night" |
Restored to justice.gov (February 24, 2026)
Two death investigation documents that had been removed were restored on February 24, 2026:
| Document | EFTA | Pages | Content |
| ---------- | ------ | ------- | --------- |
| BOP Psychological Reconstruction | EFTA00041963 | 1,000 | The institutional death analysis + BOP email ecosystem |
| July 23 Incident Documentation | EFTA00139555 | 47 | First suicide attempt records |
Removed from justice.gov (verified February 24, 2026)
The following 16 documents return HTTP 404 with the Last-Modified: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 removal fingerprint:
| Document | EFTA | Pages | Content |
| ---------- | ------ | ------- | --------- |
| BOP TRUINTEL Logs (Facility) | EFTA00053963 (OCR) | 1,000 | Real-time operational logs, July 1 – Aug 19, 2019 |
| FBI FD-302 Death Serial | EFTA00132208 (OCR) | 476 | 11+ FBI interviews, BOP institutional records |
| BOP TRUINTEL Logs (SHU) | EFTA00120887 (OCR) | 395 | SHU-filtered operational logs |
| Form 583 Incident Reports (×4) | EFTA00120010 (OCR), EFTA00109863 (OCR), EFTA00134560 (OCR), EFTA00137619 (OCR) | 88 | Official BOP death incident reports |
| FBI 302: BOP Lieutenant | EFTA00135513 (OCR) | 3 | Did not tell next shift about missing cellmate |
| FBI 302: BOP Captain | EFTA00135207 (OCR) | 6 | Directed cellmate-at-all-times policy |
| FBI 302: Unit Manager | EFTA00135165 (OCR) | 6 | "Not provided in writing... word of mouth" |
| OIG Evidence Disposition | EFTA00123409 (OCR) | 2 | 18 hard drives seized from camera system |
| OIG: CO Thomas Phone Exam | EFTA00087827 (OCR) | 2 | Phones examined, no unauthorized communications |
| OCME Body Bag Tag | EFTA00109945 (OCR) | 1 | Medical examiner identification tag |
| FBI Death Timeline | EFTA00163686 (OCR) | 1 | 7 bullet points summarizing investigation |
| MCC SHU Roster | EFTA00140243 (OCR) | 3 | SHU inmate roster, August 6, 2019 |
| Guards' Indictment Email | EFTA00017935 (OCR) | 4 | Internal AUSA email forwarding press release |
The pattern is notable. The documents that remain available on justice.gov — or have been restored — include the official summaries: the OIG report, the indictment, the FBI briefing, and the BOP Psychological Reconstruction (restored February 24). The documents that remain removed are the underlying evidence: the FBI witness interviews, the operational logs, the incident reports, the staff rosters, and the medical records. A reader can learn what the government concluded. They cannot read the evidence that supports — or complicates — those conclusions.
The Broader Removal Context
The removal of death investigation documents occurs within a larger pattern. As documented in the DOJ Document Removal Audit, an authenticated scan of all EFTA documents on justice.gov found approximately 67,784 confirmed 404 responses, with a statistical estimate of roughly 64,000 genuinely removed documents (95% CI: 62,940-65,578). The vast majority — 65,778 of the confirmed 404s — are from Dataset 9.
Separately, NPR reported on February 24, 2026 that the DOJ removed or withheld dozens of pages specifically related to sexual abuse accusations against President Trump, including FBI interview notes and witness records. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that no records were withheld "on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity."
The restoration of two death investigation documents on February 24, 2026 — the same day NPR published its report on the removal of Trump-related documents — demonstrates that the DOJ can and does restore individual documents. The 16 that remain offline represent the raw evidentiary record: the FBI interviews, the operational logs, the incident reports, and the medical records.
The EFTA's five stated exceptions for withholding — child sexual abuse material, victim personally identifying information, active law enforcement investigations, classified national security information, and images depicting the death or sexual abuse of a victim — do not account for the removal of BOP operational logs, FBI witness interviews about a death inside a federal prison, or institutional incident reports. No victims of sex trafficking were housed at MCC New York.
Cross-References
This report synthesizes material that overlaps with several previously published analyses:
- Correctional Death Investigation (PQG Line 09): Maps 24 death-related grand jury subpoenas, 42 unfulfilled demand clauses across 6 MCC institutional subpoenas, and the Kearins records-destruction probe. Focuses on subpoena compliance rather than document contents.
- The 4chan Paramedic Investigation: Reconstructs the 4chan leak, the full death night minute-by-minute timeline, the guards' prosecution from indictment through dismissal, and the FBI's digital evidence collection (Reddit, YouTube, 4chan).
- Congressional Addendum: Covers the unmonitored phone call, the document shredding, TRUSCOPE count failures, the NARA whistleblower, and the 2025 FBI evidence review.
- DOJ Document Removal Audit: The statistical methodology and results for the full-scale removal audit.
External Sources
| Claim | Source |
| ------- | -------- |
| OIG report released June 27, 2023 finding "numerous and serious failures" | OIG Official Release |
| OIG report coverage | CNN, Washington Post |
| Guards' DPA (May 2021), charges dropped (January 2022) | NPR, NBC News |
| BOP Psychological Reconstruction obtained by NYT via FOIA (November 2021) | Wikisource), CNN |
| Unmonitored phone call recipient identified as Karyna Shuliak | Yahoo News |
| Efrain Reyes died of COVID-19 on November 27, 2020 | Prison Legal News |
| AG Barr personally questioned Reyes after Epstein's death | Tampa Bay Times |
| DOJ removed documents related to Trump accusations | NPR (Feb. 24, 2026) |
| DOJ stated no records withheld for "embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity" | NPR (Feb. 24, 2026) |
| Paula Epstein (Jeffrey Epstein's mother) died 2004 | Public records, referenced in EFTA00041963 |
Methodological Notes
CONFIRMED_REMOVED.csv were re-verified on February 24, 2026. Two (EFTA00041963 and EFTA00139555) returned HTTP 200 with application/pdf and a Last-Modified date of February 24, 2026 — indicating they were restored that day. The remaining 16 returned HTTP 404 with Last-Modified: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 and Content-Length: 20, the genuine removal fingerprint documented in the DOJ Document Removal Audit.The full text of all cited documents is available at epstein-data.com/full_text_corpus. This analysis relies on Claude Code running Opus 4.6, which can make mistakes.