Deal reached to protect identities of Epstein victims

NEW YORK — A deal was reached between lawyers for victims of Jeffrey Epstein and the United States Justice Department to protect the identities of nearly 100 women whose lives were allegedly harmed after the government began releasing millions of documents last week, a lawyer told a federal judge on Tuesday.

Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan canceled a hearing scheduled for Wednesday after he was notified by Florida attorney Brittany Henderson that "extensive and constructive discussions" with the government had resulted in an agreement.

Henderson and attorney Brad Edwards had complained to Berman in a letter on Sunday that "immediate judicial intervention" was needed after there were thousands of instances when the government had failed to redact names and other personally identifying information of women sexually abused by Epstein.

Among eight women whose comments were included in the lawyers' letter, one said the records' release was "life-threatening" while another said she had received death threats and was forced to shut down her credit cards and banking accounts after their security was jeopardized.

The lawyers had requested that the Justice Department website be temporarily shut down and that an independent monitor be appointed to ensure no further errors occurred.

Henderson did not say what government lawyers said to ensure identities would be protected going forward or what the agreement consisted of.

Mistakes in the largest release of Epstein documents yet included nude photos showing the faces of potential victims as well as names, email addresses and other identifying information that was either not redacted or not fully obscured.

In the United Kingdom, police launched a criminal probe on Tuesday into former UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, amid allegations he passed confidential information to Epstein.

The news came only hours after Mandelson resigned from the upper house of parliament, as the scandal over his ties to the late sex offender effectively ended his decades-long political career.

"The Metropolitan Police has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former Government Minister, for misconduct in public office offenses," Commander Ella Marriott, of the London-based force, said in a statement.

Agencies Via Xinhua