A hacker broke into the FBI's stash of Epstein files three years ago, and the story is just now surfacing, raising questions about national security under Trump

(Tony Michaels, Instagram)

A hacker broke into FBI riles related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and with the name of U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned an estimated 38,000 times in the files, implications of the hack could be profound. 

The hack occurred three years ago, but the incident just began to receive widespread media attention last week. The FBI describes the hack as "isolated" and says it has "rectified" the network. One of the most detailed accounts we have seen so far comes from Reuters and is dated last Wednesday (3/11/26). Under the headline "Exclusive: Foreign hacker in 2023 compromised Epstein files held by FBI, source and documents show," Raphael Satter writes:

A foreign hacker compromised files relating to the FBI’s investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a digital break-in at the bureau’s New York Field Office three years ago, according to ​a source familiar with the matter and recently published Justice Department documents reviewed by Reuters.

The details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office, ‌including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being reported here for the first time.

In a statement, the FBI said what it described as a "cyber incident" was "an isolated one."

"The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time."

While the FBI's official statement is somewhat comforting, many questions remain: For example, how much information was accessed, and how might the hacker(s) use it? Also, this happened on the watch of Donald Trump's Department of Justice, headed by Pam Bondi (who has acted essentially as Trump's personal attorney, rather than as an objective seeker of justice), so what issues does that raise? The Reuters report addresses those questions and more:

Although the source said the intrusion appeared to have been carried out by a cybercriminal rather than a foreign government, ​the incident underscores the files' potential intelligence value, one academic said. The legally mandated publication of U.S. Justice Department documents has exposed the dead financier's ties to prominent people in politics, finance, academia, and business, ​triggering investigations in numerous countries around the world.

“Who wouldn’t be going after the Epstein files if you’re the Russians or somebody interested in kompromat?” said ⁠Jon Lindsay, who researches the role of emerging technology in global security at Georgia Tech. “If foreign intelligence agencies are not thinking seriously about the Epstein files as a target, then ​I would be shocked.”

The breach was reported contemporaneously by CNN and Reuters on February 17; the connection to Epstein materials was made by the French magazine Marianne.

Epstein, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump, ​pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl. He was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019, in what was ruled a suicide, after being arrested again on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors.

There is Trump's name again, along with a reference to his longstanding friendship with perhaps the best-known pedophile in world history. In fact, Jeff Tiedrich, at the "Everyone is entitled to my own opinion" Substack page, refers almost daily to Epstein, from Trump's perspective, as "my dead pedo bestie." If you already didn't feel squeamish about the Epstein-Trump connection, you probably will when you learn more about the hack. Speaking of which, here is more from Raphael Satter:

The hack occurred after a server at the Child Exploitation Forensic Lab in the FBI’s New York Field Office was inadvertently left vulnerable by Special Agent Aaron Spivack, who was trying to navigate the bureau’s complex ​procedures for handling digital evidence, according to the source and the documents.

A timeline written by Spivack and included in the large cache of Epstein documents released earlier this year said the break-in happened ​on February 12, 2023. It was discovered the following day when Spivack turned on his computer and discovered a text file warning him that his network had been compromised, according to that document.

Further investigation turned up traces ‌of unusual activity ⁠on the server, the document said, adding that the activity "included combing through certain files pertaining to the Epstein investigation.”

You might want to keep that name Aaron Spivack in mind. He already is a central figure in this story, and his role might only get bigger. Reuters has more:

The timeline does not say which specific files were accessed, whether the hacker downloaded the data, or who the hacker was. Reuters could not establish what, if any, overlap the affected data had with the Epstein documents published earlier this year or the files that remain under wraps. 

Spivack, whose name appears elsewhere in the Epstein files, did not return repeated messages seeking comment. Reuters was unable to reach the man identified in the documents as Spivack’s lawyer, Richard J. Roberson, Jr. Seven FBI ​agents identified in the documents as being involved ​in the investigation into the incident did ⁠not return messages.

Spivack already appears to be taking a defensive posture to questions about the data breach, Satter reports:

In his statement to FBI investigators examining whether he was responsible for the breach, Spivack said he was being made "a scapegoat for the intrusion" and that conflicting bureau policies and faulty guidance around information technology were to blame. Reuters could not establish the result ​of the bureau's internal investigation.

The person familiar with the breach said the intrusion was carried out by a foreign hacker who did not appear ​to realize they had penetrated ⁠a law enforcement server. The hacker expressed disgust at the presence of child abuse images on the device and left a message threatening to turn its owner over to the FBI, the person said.

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 could not determine - and the source said they did not know - who the hacker was, what country they ​were operating from, what they did with the material accessed, or whether any effort was made to identify or punish them for breaking into the FBI’s server.

Many of the Justice Department's documents have been heavily redacted and others have been kept ​secret altogether despite a law mandating their full release last year. The Trump administration says it is withholding material that could compromise victims’ identities or jeopardize ongoing investigations. 

This is a classic example of a story that raises more questions than it answers. But the number of press accounts on the hack is growing, and we intend to be in the middle of the effort to shine light on the latest unsavory chapter in the Epstein-Trump saga. We invite you to stay tuned.