Blackmail fears as foreign hacker breaks into FBI server holding Epstein files

A foreign hacker compromised files related to the Justice Department's investigation of the late sex offender during a break-in three years ago at an FBI field office in New York, according to a source familiar with the matter and recently published Justice Department documents reviewed by Reuters.

“Who wouldn’t be going after the Epstein files if you’re the Russians or somebody interested in kompromat?” said Jon Lindsay, a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “If foreign intelligence agencies are not thinking seriously about the Epstein files as a target, then I would be shocked."

The breach was reported Feb. 17 by both CNN and Reuters, but the connection to the Epstein files was made by the French magazine Marianne, and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said the incident underlined the importance of fully complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act overwhelmingly passed by Congress last fall.

"A foreign hacker likely has the Epstein Files," Lieu posted on social media. "The best way to prevent blackmail of government officials, such as Trump and Howard Lutnick, would be for AG Pam Bondi to stop the cover-up and release all the Epstein Files as required by law."

The individual familiar with the 2023 breach said it was carried out by a foreign hacker who did not seem to realize they had broken into a law enforcement server and expressed disgust after finding child abuse images and left a message threatening to report the owner to the FBI.

"The source said bureau officials defused the situation by convincing the hacker that they actually were the FBI, in part by having the hacker join a video chat where they flashed their law enforcement credentials in front ⁠of a web camera," Reuters reported.

Reuters was not able to determine the hacker's identity or what country they were operating from, nor what they did with the stolen materials, and it's not clear whether any effort was made to identify or punish them.