A Teen Reporter Searched for His Community in the Epstein Files. Adults Freaked Out
A high school student in California used the public Epstein files to investigate local connections to the late financier. His report sparked significant backlash from adults in his community who were uncomfortable with the scrutiny.
Why it matters
It illustrates the tension between public access to sensitive historical data and the desire of local communities to avoid association with high-profile scandals.
After allowing himself a few minutes of procrastination—scouting prospective college campuses on Google Earth—Mueller navigated over to the Department of Justice’s Epstein Library portal and clicked through the page asking whether he was 18 or older (he was, just barely). Then he began poking around for ideas in the 3 million pages of Epstein files that had been added 11 days earlier.
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