The phrase, buried among millions of pages of documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein, would not mean much to most people. But it could still have had deadly consequences.
The simple words, “proffer at 500,” amounted to a sign that seven of the defendants listed on two 2019 documents released in the files were either cooperating with federal prosecutors or seeking to do so.
And in fact, several of the men whose names appeared with that phrase on the internal documents did cooperate, after talking to prosecutors in what are known as proffer sessions at 500 Pearl Street, the address of the federal district courthouse in Manhattan.
By failing to redact the names of those seven people, who were being held at the Manhattan jail where Mr. Epstein was awaiting trial, the government may have put them in harm’s way. The disclosure of the names could also send a chilling message to anyone else considering whether to cooperate with the authorities.
When initially informed that the names had been included in the Epstein Files, the Justice Department did not redact the documents further or remove them from the online database. A spokeswoman said that the word proffer “did not necessarily mean cooperator.”
But after The New York Times confirmed that at least three of the seven people had in fact cooperated with the government, and then informed the department, agency officials took down the files. They then restored them with the names and notations redacted.
Even if the people in question had not cooperated, legal experts said, the phrase could indicate that they had attempted to do so, which would still have put them in harm’s way by signaling to co-defendants and criminal associates that they were willing to provide information to prosecutors.
“It’s very upsetting,” said Marc Greenwald, a partner at Quinn Emanuel and a former prosecutor who was involved in one of the seven cases, adding that in many instances the names of those who cooperate are never revealed to the public, and should not be. “Some of these gangs and transnational organizations have long memories,” Mr. Greenwald said.
The Times has not named the seven people, or provided any other identifying information.
The disclosure is the latest example underscoring how the urgent push to release the files resulted in the Justice Department publicizing information that prosecutors would normally take pains to keep private. The agency also released dozens of unredacted nude images on its website, showing young women or possibly minors, and re-exposed the names and identifying information of women who have accused Mr. Epstein.
The failure to redact the inmates’ names makes plain that it is not only the rich and powerful who have been imperiled by the rush to release the files. Their publication has also affected people from very different stations in life who never traveled to Mr. Epstein’s private island, flew on his private jet or did business with him.
The revelation also raises questions about what other sensitive information might have slipped through the Justice Department’s hasty redaction process and remain, in effect, hidden in plain sight in the vast online digital repository that contains the files.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which called for the release of a wide range of materials, including documentation of his detention and death, set a Dec. 19 deadline for the Justice Department to do so. After missing the deadline, the agency scrambled last month to release millions of documents, as well as 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. A team of more than 500 department lawyers and reviewers worked on the redaction and publication of the materials. In some cases, prosecutors in New York, Washington and elsewhere put off other work to assist in those efforts.
Among the files were at least 20 documents that had the potential to reveal cooperating witnesses. Those documents are known as prisoner schedule reports and are stamped “CONFIDENTIAL” in red ink by the U.S. Marshals Service, which generates them as a way of tracking where a detainee is going on a given day. Such documents are not generally made public. Mr. Epstein was listed on each one, which likely explains why they were released as part of the files.
The set of documents was redacted inconsistently. On some, all of the information was concealed; on others, only prisoners’ names were redacted, leaving other potentially identifying information visible.
The prisoner schedule reports in the files were from July and August of 2019, when Mr. Epstein was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Several of the lawyers contacted by The Times recalled seeing him at the jail as he met with his own lawyer, something he did nearly every day until his death by suicide that August.
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area’s federal and state courts.
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