EFTA00023710.pdf
1.09 MB
Extraction Summary
4
People
9
Organizations
3
Locations
2
Events
1
Relationships
5
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Email chain / internal government correspondence
File Size:
1.09 MB
Summary
This document contains a series of email communications between the FBI's New York Computer Analysis Response Team (CART) and the US Attorney's Office (SDNY) regarding the processing of digital evidence seized from Jeffrey Epstein's properties in New York and the Virgin Islands. The correspondence, dating from February to July 2020, details significant technical challenges in processing terabytes of data from various devices (Macs, Windows, servers, loose media) for legal discovery. Key issues include the incompatibility of forensic data with the US Attorney's 'Relativity' review platform, delays caused by COVID-19 and FBI network upgrades, and the need to identify specific device serial numbers for search warrants.
People (4)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| REDACTED (NY CART Coordinator) | Senior Forensic Examiner, FBI NY Field Office |
Responsible for processing digital evidence (computers, phones) seized from Epstein's properties and transmitting it ...
|
| REDACTED (Assistant U.S. Attorney) | Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York |
Lead on the legal side, requesting data for discovery/review, expressing urgency regarding case timeline.
|
| REDACTED (Contractor) | USANYS Contractor |
Assisting the US Attorney's office with data processing and Relativity (e-discovery platform) loading.
|
| REDACTED (SSA) | Supervisory Special Agent, FBI New York |
Involved in high-level coordination calls.
|
Organizations (9)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| FBI |
Federal Bureau of Investigation, specifically the New York Field Office and CART (Computer Analysis Response Team).
|
|
| USANYS |
United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
|
|
| FedEx |
Courier service used to transport hard drives containing evidence.
|
|
| Apple |
Manufacturer of seized devices (Macs, iPhones, iPads).
|
|
| Microsoft |
Manufacturer (implied by 'Windows boxes').
|
|
| Dell |
Manufacturer of seized Power Edge T310 hard drives.
|
|
| Sony |
Manufacturer of seized Vaio laptop.
|
|
| SanDisk |
Manufacturer of seized thumb drives.
|
|
| Seagate |
Manufacturer of seized IDE hard drives.
|
Timeline (2 events)
2020-03
Network replacement and COVID-19 telework transition causing significant delays in evidence processing.
FBI NY Office
FBI NY CART
Locations (3)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Location of FBI office, US Attorney's office, and Epstein's 'Manhattan apartment'/'New York mansion' where evidence w...
|
|
|
Referred to as 'the Island'. Location where evidence (including a 'kitchen' Mac and servers) was seized.
|
|
|
Location where the case team was traveling in late February 2020.
|
Relationships (1)
FBI NY CART Coordinator
→
Professional/Adversarial
→
USANYS Assistant US Attorney
Frequent friction regarding the speed and format of data delivery. USANYS demands data in reviewable formats (Relativity); FBI insists on forensic integrity and cites technical limitations.
Key Quotes (5)
"You are getting the whole ball of wax, here, Macs, Windows boxes, loose media, etc."Source
EFTA00023710.pdf
Quote #1
"Relativity is NOT a forensic tool. It is incapable of dealing with many things that are found forensically on a computer like free space, slack space, and system files to name a few."Source
EFTA00023710.pdf
Quote #2
"The biggest stumbling block are the newer Mac items that are in APFS (there are a bunch from the Island,) so it is difficult to estimate how long those will take."Source
EFTA00023710.pdf
Quote #3
"So if an email says, 'see the attached flight records,' for example, we have no way of linking that up with the records themselves."Source
EFTA00023710.pdf
Quote #4
"Unfortunately, recent events and our staffing levels have conspired to put a kink in just about everything."Source
EFTA00023710.pdf
Quote #5
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (5,808 characters)
From: (USANYS)"
To: ' )"
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 2020 15:18:58 +0000
Great, thanks.
To: ' )"
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 2020 15:18:58 +0000
Great, thanks.
From:
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 11:13 AM
To: (USANYS)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
We're expecting it today — just spoke to she's going to drop it off and then I'll have it sent via FedEx to .
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 11:13 AM
To: (USANYS)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
We're expecting it today — just spoke to she's going to drop it off and then I'll have it sent via FedEx to .
From: (USANYS)
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2020 10:57
To:
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Did we get this?
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2020 10:57
To:
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Did we get this?
From:
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 5:39 PM
To: . (NY) (FBI) : (USANYS) [Contractor]
Cc: (USANYS) ; (NY) (FBI) ; (NY) (FBI)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Thanks — if you just have it brought over to my office tomorrow, we'll take care of getting it to no problem. No need for you guys to ship.
thanks,
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 5:39 PM
To: . (NY) (FBI) : (USANYS) [Contractor]
Cc: (USANYS) ; (NY) (FBI) ; (NY) (FBI)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Thanks — if you just have it brought over to my office tomorrow, we'll take care of getting it to no problem. No need for you guys to ship.
thanks,
From: (NY) (FBI)
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 17:36
To: (USANYS) [Contractor]
Cc: (USANYS) ; (NY) (FBI)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
I'll see what we can arrange.
(NY) (FBI)
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 17:36
To: (USANYS) [Contractor]
Cc: (USANYS) ; (NY) (FBI)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
I'll see what we can arrange.
(NY) (FBI)
NY CART Coordinator
Senior Forensic Examiner
cell
desk
Senior Forensic Examiner
cell
desk
On Jul 7, 2020 5:34 PM, " (USANYS) [Contractor]" wrote:
Hello ,
Our office is not open and I am still working from home. Is it possible to have this data sent to my home?
Thank you.
Hello ,
Our office is not open and I am still working from home. Is it possible to have this data sent to my home?
Thank you.
From: (NY) (FBI)
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 5:14 PM
To:
Cc: (USANYS); (NY) (FBI)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 5:14 PM
To:
Cc: (USANYS); (NY) (FBI)
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
,
Everything with the exception of a couple of items are ready. I will get you an actual number before I send it over. We can send it over tomorrow. There will be ReadMe files included so it will be easy to see where the items came from. I am a little worried about how the e-mail will present. While looking through on a spot check, the attachments are not connected to the e-mails in the forensic tool. I believe it is a function of the e-mail client they were using to begin with. I know that the attachments are a concern of yours. We may have to massage things a bit to get it right. Now that we are working every day, and everything has been processed, it shouldn't be too big a deal. So far the export is about 350 GB. It copies slowly because it is a ton of pretty small files. You are getting the whole ball of wax, here, Macs, Windows boxes, loose media, etc. There will be a few iPhone and iPad reports, but unsure if I can get you those tomorrow as they very often take a LONG time to copy. Again, lots of small files. If not tomorrow, the next day.
Are you around tomorrow? Reach out to me when you get the production so we can correct any problems we might encounter. Thanks.
Everything with the exception of a couple of items are ready. I will get you an actual number before I send it over. We can send it over tomorrow. There will be ReadMe files included so it will be easy to see where the items came from. I am a little worried about how the e-mail will present. While looking through on a spot check, the attachments are not connected to the e-mails in the forensic tool. I believe it is a function of the e-mail client they were using to begin with. I know that the attachments are a concern of yours. We may have to massage things a bit to get it right. Now that we are working every day, and everything has been processed, it shouldn't be too big a deal. So far the export is about 350 GB. It copies slowly because it is a ton of pretty small files. You are getting the whole ball of wax, here, Macs, Windows boxes, loose media, etc. There will be a few iPhone and iPad reports, but unsure if I can get you those tomorrow as they very often take a LONG time to copy. Again, lots of small files. If not tomorrow, the next day.
Are you around tomorrow? Reach out to me when you get the production so we can correct any problems we might encounter. Thanks.
NYO CART Coordinator
Senior Forensic Examiner
Senior Forensic Examiner
From:
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 3:42 PM
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
I understand that some number of the devices are ready to come to us as early as today or tomorrow. Could you please let us know the following information, so we can figure out who the hard drive should go to in the first instance:
1. How many total devices are coming to us in this initial production?
1. What are those devices — i.e., type of device and which ones, from the spreadsheets you've sent?
2. What's the total volume of data coming in this round of production?
Once we know that, I can let the agents know where the drive needs to go in the first instance.
thanks,
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 3:42 PM
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
I understand that some number of the devices are ready to come to us as early as today or tomorrow. Could you please let us know the following information, so we can figure out who the hard drive should go to in the first instance:
1. How many total devices are coming to us in this initial production?
1. What are those devices — i.e., type of device and which ones, from the spreadsheets you've sent?
2. What's the total volume of data coming in this round of production?
Once we know that, I can let the agents know where the drive needs to go in the first instance.
thanks,
[...Preceding emails regarding coordination of data transfer, delays due to COVID/Telework, and technical disputes over file formats (Relativity vs Forensic Native Files)...]
From: (NY) (FBI)
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 4:11 PM
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Thanks for this, it's a helpful start. In terms of being able to write our search warrant, one additional piece of information we need is the serial number, or some other specific identifier, ideally for each device but at least for any device that there is more than one of the same thing. So for example, we need to be able to somehow differentiate the following devices –
- The two Dell power edge T310 hard drives (NYCO24323 and NYCO24324)
- The two Sony Vaio laptop / Fujitsu hdd (NYCO24336 and NYCO24337)
- the following loose storage devices:
o Micro SD card (NYCO24339)
o Flash Drive (generic) (NYCO24340)
o Thumbdrive (Emtec) (NYCO24341)
o hard drive (loose) (NYCO24342)
o verbatim thumbdrive (NYCO24343)
- The four San Disk cruzer-thumbdrives (NYCO24344-47)
- The three Seagate IDE hard drives (NYCO24348-50)
- The camera SD card (NYCO24351)
I think the rest of the devices are either specifically distinguishable and/or have an S/N listed.
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 4:11 PM
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Thanks for this, it's a helpful start. In terms of being able to write our search warrant, one additional piece of information we need is the serial number, or some other specific identifier, ideally for each device but at least for any device that there is more than one of the same thing. So for example, we need to be able to somehow differentiate the following devices –
- The two Dell power edge T310 hard drives (NYCO24323 and NYCO24324)
- The two Sony Vaio laptop / Fujitsu hdd (NYCO24336 and NYCO24337)
- the following loose storage devices:
o Micro SD card (NYCO24339)
o Flash Drive (generic) (NYCO24340)
o Thumbdrive (Emtec) (NYCO24341)
o hard drive (loose) (NYCO24342)
o verbatim thumbdrive (NYCO24343)
- The four San Disk cruzer-thumbdrives (NYCO24344-47)
- The three Seagate IDE hard drives (NYCO24348-50)
- The camera SD card (NYCO24351)
I think the rest of the devices are either specifically distinguishable and/or have an S/N listed.
[...Emails regarding technical issues with Mac items, APFS encryption, and load files...]
From: (NY) (FBI)
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2020 16:23
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Unfortunately, recent events and our staffing levels have conspired to put a kink in just about everything... I'm going to have to push back my estimate by a week or 2.
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2020 16:23
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
Unfortunately, recent events and our staffing levels have conspired to put a kink in just about everything... I'm going to have to push back my estimate by a week or 2.
[...Emails discussing the "Kitchen" Mac from the Island and 9 IDE hard drives found in the Manhattan apartment...]
From: (Assistant U.S. Attorney)
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2020 16:30
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
So for example on the hard drive currently, there are 38 folders labeled "loadFiles" through "37loadFiles"... And then there's another folder titled "NYC024362" that has a modified date of 1/27/20... That folder by itself has more than 600,000 items.
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2020 16:30
Subject: RE: Epstein search warrant documents
So for example on the hard drive currently, there are 38 folders labeled "loadFiles" through "37loadFiles"... And then there's another folder titled "NYC024362" that has a modified date of 1/27/20... That folder by itself has more than 600,000 items.
Discussion 0
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this epstein document