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To provide a private cause of action for exposure of personally identifiable information of victims or victims' personal or medical files or similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in releasing documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Summary
- Creates a private cause of action for people harmed by improper disclosure of their personally identifiable information or personal or medical files when released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act
- Allows victims to sue the United States federal government if federal officers or agencies fail to redact protected personal or medical information
- Establishes remedies of $50,000 in statutory damages per violation or compensatory damages for pain and suffering and emotional distress, whichever is greater
- Provides for recovery of reasonable attorney's fees and litigation costs, plus injunctive or declaratory relief
- Waives federal sovereign immunity so the United States can be sued for these violations
- Establishes a 5-year statute of limitations from when a person discovers the violation, with a 5-year period from bill enactment for violations discovered before enactment, and applies to violations on or after November 19, 2025
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Cory A. Booker’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $92,425
- PRIME HEALTHCARE $19,800
- APOLLO $15,800
- LOWENSTEIN SANDLER LLP $15,700
- HARVARD UNIVERSITY $14,100
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Cory A. Booker → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 14, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
- Jul 14, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 14, 2026
Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide a private cause of action for exposure of personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal or medical files or similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in releasing documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Recovery, Enforcement, and Damages to Assure Confidential Treatment Act” or the “REDACT Act”.
SEC. 2. PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION FOR EXPOSURE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION OF VICTIMS OR VICTIMS’ PERSONAL OR MEDICAL FILES OR SIMILAR FILES THE DISCLOSURE OF WHICH WOULD CONSTITUTE A CLEARLY UNWARRANTED INVASION OF PERSONAL PRIVACY IN RELEASING DOCUMENTS UNDER THE EPSTEIN FILES TRANSPARENCY ACT.
Section 2 of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (Public Law 119-38; 139 Stat. 656) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Private Cause of Action.—
“(1) Definitions.—In this subsection:
“(A) Instance.—The term ‘instance’, with respect to a violation of this section, means each discrete act constituting a violation of this section.
“(B) Violation of this section.—The term ‘violation of this section’ means a failure, in releasing documents under this Act, to withhold or redact personally identifiable information of a victim or a personal or medical file of a victim or another similar file of a victim the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
“(2) Cause of action.—Any person aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation of this section was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency.
“(3) Relief.—
“(A) In general.—If a person prevails on a claim under this subsection, the court shall award—
“(i) for each instance of a violation of this section, the greater of statutory damages of $50,000 or the amount of compensatory damages, including damages for pain and suffering and emotional distress;
“(ii) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of litigation; and
“(iii) such injunctive or declaratory relief as may be appropriate.
“(B) Preliminary relief.—Upon motion by a person bringing a claim under this subsection, a court may award such preliminary injunctive relief as the court determines appropriate with respect to the claim.
“(4) Waiver of sovereign immunity.—The United States expressly waives sovereign immunity with respect to actions brought under this subsection.
“(5) Period of limitations.—A civil action under this subsection may not be commenced later than—
“(A) 5 years after the applicable person first obtains actual notice of the violation of this section; or
“(B) for a violation of this section with respect to which the applicable person first obtained actual notice of the violation of this section before the date of enactment of this subsection, 5 years after such date of enactment.
“(6) Applicability.—This subsection shall apply to any violation of this section occurring on or after November 19, 2025.”. <all>
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