The Justice Department's acting deputy chief was caught on a hidden camera saying that the government will "redact every Republican" from an Epstein client list and "leave all the liberal, Democratic people"

The Justice Department on Thursday scrambled to respond to claims made in a new video released by James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, who is known for hidden-camera operations.

O’Keefe’s video showed an undercover recording of Joseph Schnitt, acting Deputy Chief of Special Operations at the DOJ, speaking casually over lunch about the department’s Epstein files and an alleged arrangement with Ghislaine Maxwell. Schnitt is heard saying the DOJ has “thousands and thousands of pages” of Epstein files and claimed they would redact Republican names while leaving Democratic ones. He also suggested Maxwell’s transfer to a minimum-security prison was unusual for a convicted sex offender and implied she was being given incentives to “keep her mouth shut.”

The DOJ quickly rejected Schnitt’s comments, saying they were inaccurate and did not reflect any knowledge of the department’s review process. In a statement, the department clarified that Schnitt “had no role in the Department’s internal review of Epstein materials” and that his remarks had “zero bearing with reality.”

Later, the DOJ took the unusual step of posting an unedited iPhone screenshot of an email Schnitt sent to his supervisor. In it, he explained that his recorded comments came during dates with a woman he met on Hinge, who he believed was an au pair named Skylar. Schnitt wrote that he did not know she was a reporter and that his remarks were based only on information he had read in the media, not on anything learned through his work. He emphasized that he never disclosed sensitive information about his job and had no direct knowledge of Maxwell’s situation beyond news reports.