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DOJ tracked journalist who exposed Epstein [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2025-12-31  

Julie K. Brown spent years investigating Jeffrey Epstein for the Miami Herald. Her 2018 "Perversion of Justice" series identified 80 victims, exposed the sweetheart plea deal that let Epstein walk in 2008, and generated enough pressure that federal prosecutors finally arrested him in 2019. She won two George Polk Awards for it. Time put her on their 100 Most Influential list. And now, thanks to the DOJ's document releases under the Epstein Transparency Act, she's discovered something troubling: her own travel records are in those files.

Brown found her maiden name and her July 2019 American Airlines itinerary in a grand jury subpoena document. That flight was booked to interview a victim. She had no personal connection to Epstein. So why was the Justice Department tracking the travel of a journalist whose reporting had just forced them to reopen the case?

From The Independent:

"As the flight itinerary includes my maiden name (and I did book this flight) why was the DOJ monitoring me?" Brown also addressed the matter in a post on Substack in which she said she had "expected" to see her name in the Epstein files because of her reporting, but added: "What I didn't expect to see was an American Airlines flight record from 2019 with my full name on them, including my maiden name, which I don't use professionally. It's an unusual name, so it's clear it's me." Her X message was reposted by the official Oversight Dems account with the comment: "The Department of Justice needs to explain why travel information and booking itineraries for a journalist are in the Epstein files."

The document dump has been, in Brown's words, "sloppy at best." She's pointed out that Trump-linked images remain heavily redacted while her unrelated booking details got published for the world to see. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are now demanding explanations, raising questions about whether the DOJ was monitoring the reporter responsible for embarrassing the department over its handling of Epstein.

Brown told The Daily Beast the files are "worse" than she expected. Survivors are angry about what the redactions reveal about priorities. And the journalist who did more than anyone to bring Epstein's crimes to light is now asking why her own government was keeping tabs on her.

Previously:

• Epstein's fortune came from scaring billionaires

• DOJ's redacted Epstein drop criticized by both parties

• Trump photo vanishes from DOJ's Epstein file release

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