FBI paid nearly $1M in overtime to redact Epstein files, documents show
Bloomberg reporter Jason Leopold sued the FBI and DOJ for the files as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
By Anna Rascouët-Paz/Snopes
Published Dec. 1, 2025
Claim:
FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi spent nearly $1 million in overtime pay for personnel to redact the files related to the case of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rating: True
Context:
The FBI released files to Bloomberg investigative Reporter Jason Leopold following a civil lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. These files indicated that the agency had spent at least $851,344 the week of March 17, 2025, in overtime pay for 934 agents mobilized to process and redact the Epstein files as part of a project called Epstein Transparency Project 2025.
Snopes verified the records were authentic using public documents the FBI filed in response to the lawsuit. The available documents neither confirmed nor disproved the related claims that the overtime pay was specifically for removing Trump's name from the files or that all of the money went to "redaction training."
In November 2025, a rumor circulated that FBI Director Kash Patel and the head of the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi, had spent nearly $1 million in overtime pay for FBI personnel to redact the files related to the case of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A Nov. 28, 2025, post on X said the FBI had "quietly poured roughly $1M into overtime hours to scrub and redact the Epstein files," calling it "treason" (archived):
As of this writing, this post had amassed more than 72,000 likes and 2.2 million views.
Variations of the claim appeared elsewhere online. One Instagram user said in a video that Patel and Bondi spent $1 million to "pull Trump's name out of the Epstein files," referring to President Donald Trump. Another version of the rumor appeared on X, where one user said the FBI "spent nearly $1 million for redaction training for the Epstein files," citing The Daily Beast.
In short, FBI documents confirm the agency spent more than $850,000 on overtime pay for agents tasked with processing and redacting files related to the Epstein case. As a result, we've rated the claim true.
By Anna Rascouët-Paz/Snopes
Published Dec. 1, 2025
Claim:
FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi spent nearly $1 million in overtime pay for personnel to redact the files related to the case of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rating: True
Context:
The FBI released files to Bloomberg investigative Reporter Jason Leopold following a civil lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. These files indicated that the agency had spent at least $851,344 the week of March 17, 2025, in overtime pay for 934 agents mobilized to process and redact the Epstein files as part of a project called Epstein Transparency Project 2025.
Snopes verified the records were authentic using public documents the FBI filed in response to the lawsuit. The available documents neither confirmed nor disproved the related claims that the overtime pay was specifically for removing Trump's name from the files or that all of the money went to "redaction training."
In November 2025, a rumor circulated that FBI Director Kash Patel and the head of the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi, had spent nearly $1 million in overtime pay for FBI personnel to redact the files related to the case of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A Nov. 28, 2025, post on X said the FBI had "quietly poured roughly $1M into overtime hours to scrub and redact the Epstein files," calling it "treason" (archived):
As of this writing, this post had amassed more than 72,000 likes and 2.2 million views.
Variations of the claim appeared elsewhere online. One Instagram user said in a video that Patel and Bondi spent $1 million to "pull Trump's name out of the Epstein files," referring to President Donald Trump. Another version of the rumor appeared on X, where one user said the FBI "spent nearly $1 million for redaction training for the Epstein files," citing The Daily Beast.
In short, FBI documents confirm the agency spent more than $850,000 on overtime pay for agents tasked with processing and redacting files related to the Epstein case. As a result, we've rated the claim true.
