Missing Epstein Files: 2023 FBI Hack Wiped 100 Terabytes of Evidence

A sworn declaration included in the Trump administration’s recent release of the Epstein files indicates that a cyber intrusion into FBI systems led to the loss of vast quantities of data connected to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

In a declaration (pdf) dated September 2024, FBI Special Agent Aaron Spivack described a breach of the Bureau’s New York Field Office network that occurred on Super Bowl Sunday in 2023. According to the statement, the incident caused investigators to lose access to roughly 500 terabytes of stored information. Of that amount, approximately 100 terabytes could not be recovered.

Slay News reported on the uncovered document on Sunday.

It provides a rare inside account of how the rather unfortunate breach unfolded, how the FBI’s internal systems were exposed, and how an enormous quantity of investigative data vanished from federal custody.

Discovering the Breach

The details appear in sworn testimony Spivack gave during an internal FBI investigation into the mishandling of digital evidence and a cyber intrusion that compromised the Bureau’s New York Field Office systems. At the time, he was serving as a special agent on a Hybrid Domestic Terrorism and Child Exploitation squad.

According to his declaration, the breach occurred on February 12, 2023, the night of the Super Bowl.

Spivack did not realize anything was wrong until the following morning.

“The intrusion happened on Super Bowl Sunday of 2023 and I discovered it the very next day; on Monday,” he wrote.

He arrived at the office early and logged into one of the forensic workstations used to analyze digital evidence.

“7:30am – I arrived at the office and noticed my Talino computer had restarted,” he recalled.

After logging in, the agent saw a text file indicating that part of the network had been compromised. The message included an email address to contact.

At first, the situation was unclear. Spivack ran antivirus software on the machine to determine whether malware had triggered the restart. The scan, he said, “identified one potential threat.”

By that point, however, his administrative privileges had already been removed from the system. Investigators later suggested the detected threat may have been a “booby-trap” left behind by the intruder.

Spivack began documenting the events in a timeline prepared for investigators.

As the day progressed, the scope of the incident became clearer. Spivack and FBI technical staff realized their main server was down and other systems in the forensic environment were malfunctioning.

The breakthrough came later in the afternoon when agents examined the system logs:

Around 3:30pm or so we located the log files and began combing through, which is when we noticed strange IP activity that took place yesterday from two IP addresses. The activity included combing through certain files pertaining to the Epstein investigation.

Only then did investigators realize the network had been breached.

Missing Terabytes

As investigators worked to understand the breach, the scale of the damage became clear.

According to Spivack, the compromised system housed an enormous repository of digital evidence maintained at the Field Office. The servers stored forensic images, extracted files, and other materials collected during federal criminal investigations.

Per the document,

500 terabytes of data was gone as a result of the intrusion. I was able to recover about 400 terabytes of that data, however.

Five hundred terabytes is roughly half a petabyte of digital information, enough to contain millions of investigative records, images, and forensic artifacts.

FBI personnel attempted to rebuild the system and recover the files from backups and other sources.

The document does not provide a detailed inventory of what was lost. Neither does it explain exactly how the data was destroyed. It also does not clarify whether the erased files were deliberately removed during the intrusion or lost as a consequence of the system failure that followed.

What it makes clear is the magnitude of the loss: Roughly one fifth of the compromised data is gone for good.

The Vulnerability

Spivack’s declaration also sheds light on how the system might have been exposed.

The forensic lab processed digital evidence seized in criminal investigations. Preparing that evidence would take one month, on average. Computers often ran lengthy automated processes before investigators could review the results.

“The steps of imaging and processing evidence before it is ready for review can sometimes take days,” Spivack wrote.

Seeking to speed up the process, he attempted to configure remote access so the lab machines could be monitored without physically returning to the office.

“I attempted to set the RDP up in either the Fall/Winter of 2022 or early 2023,” he stated.

The system relied on Remote Desktop Protocol, or RDP, a tool that allows users to control computers remotely across a network. If improperly configured, RDP can expose systems directly to the internet.

According to the agent, the lab’s computers had long operated as isolated standalone machines. Agents had repeatedly requested assistance networking them securely.

“Our request was simple — to network the few standalone computers in our lab,” Spivack wrote. But, he added, “no responsible entity within the FBI would assist.”

Without formal technical support, investigators attempted to assemble the system themselves. Spivack said they turned to colleagues and outside contacts for guidance.

“None of our volunteered help came from anyone who was a network or systems administrator,” he wrote. When he asked for help to recover the missing data, he said, the advice he received was simply: “Google it.”

That vulnerability may have created the opening that allowed outside actors to access the system. He also testified that a critical security role had been left vacant.

Shortly afterward, the intrusion occurred.

Epstein Files

Given the continuing tensions and frustration surrounding the government’s handling of the case, the breach that erased massive amounts of investigative evidence appears both suspicious and remarkably convenient for those in the “Epstein class” — the wealthy and politically connected circle of elites who moved within Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit and allegedly benefited from an environment of privilege, secrecy, and impunity surrounding him.

At the same time, what has already emerged from the released Epstein files is explosive. The documents have fueled public outrage and renewed scrutiny of evidence suggesting that powerful elites were entangled in deeply disturbing crimes. One of the clearest early analyses of the document dump comes from investigative journalist James Corbett.

After reviewing thousands of pages, Corbett argues the files reveal far more than the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein alone. Instead, they expose the powerful networks that surrounded him.

The documents portray Epstein as a connector linking influential figures across finance, politics, and technology.

Corbett also highlights darker themes running through the files. Some communications point to a culture of sexual exploitation and sadism, as well as the potential use of compromising encounters for blackmail within elite circles. The records also strongly point to Epstein’s links to Israeli Mossad and to networks such as the Trilateral Commission and the World Economic Forum (WEF), among others.

Other exchanges reveal Epstein’s interest in genetic engineering and transhumanist ideas, including discussions of embryo editing and so-called designer humans.

Taken together, Corbett argues, the documents portray Epstein as far more than a disgraced financier. They depict a hub within a powerful web where wealth, influence, and depraved behavior often intersected.

No Justice

In the meantime, in early February, President Donald Trump urged Americans to “move on” from the Epstein case. His Justice Department began releasing the files only after sustained legislative pressure from a bipartisan group of Congressmen demanding greater transparency about the investigation. The rollout itself has been widely criticized for heavy redactions, incomplete disclosures, apparent withholdings, and a fragmented release.

These controversies come after years of allegations that key evidence tied to Epstein’s criminal network might have been lost, destroyed, or concealed.

Last July, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) reportedly said she had been approached by an FBI whistleblower who claimed to have witnessed the destruction and tampering of Epstein-related documents.

Representative Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) has likewise accused the Joe Biden administration of “destroying” critical information, including a “client list.”

For many Americans, these developments have only deepened the sense that the Epstein case remains unresolved. Years after Epstein’s death, the public is still left asking the same question: Who else was involved, and why has so much of the evidence disappeared?