Even before the Department of Justice’s release of a major collection of files pertaining to late billionaire sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, lawmakers were concerned they would be heavily censored.
On Friday, the department launched an entire webpage that included hundreds of thousands of long-awaited records from its investigation into the deceased financier.
As expected, many of the documents have been heavily redacted, giving little insight into Epstein’s horrifying operation or the many big names — including numerous former presidents and celebrities, as well as a laundry list over other wealthy and powerful figures — who were connected to him.
And adding to the sense that the government doesn’t have the interests of transparency in mind, at least 16 photos have mysteriously disappeared from the archive after its initial release, as the Associated Press reports, including an image that showed president Donald Trump — a revelation that will likely throw gasoline on an already brightly burning political fiasco.
While it remains unclear why the files were being deleted, the news has already sparked major outcry, with some accusing the Trump administration’s Justice Department of trying to protect Trump, who was once close friends with Epstein.
“What else is being covered up?” the official account of the Democrats’ Oversight Committee tweeted in response to the latest news. “We need transparency for the American public.”
The image, appended to the tweet, shows framed photographs on what appears to be a desk. One photo in the bottom left, inside an open drawer, appears to show Trump’s face. (Trump has been photographed alongside Epstein on several occasions.)
By Sunday afternoon, the image was added to the files once again. Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche claimed that the image was taken down over concerns that it contained the images of victims, telling NBC News “absolutely, positively not,” when asked if any material was redacted due to political sensitivities.
“After the review, it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph, and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction,” the Justice Department said in a Sunday afternoon statement.
The Justice Department has yet to offer an explanation why the other missing images were removed. A spokesman did not respond to the New York Times‘ request for comment.
For now, Democratic lawmakers are bound to continue putting on the pressure.
“It’s all about covering up things that, for whatever reason, Donald Trump doesn’t want to go public, either about himself (or) other members of his family, friends,” Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MA) told CNN.
Even Republicans are joining in.
“They’re flouting the spirit and the letter of the law,” Congressman Thomas Massie (R-WV) told CBS News. “It’s very troubling the posture that they’ve taken. And I won’t be satisfied until the survivors are satisfied.”
Despite Trump’s name coming up in a number of Epstein’s emails that were released by the House Oversight Committee last month, a simple search for “Trump” flagged “no results” when the Justice Department’s new website was first launched.
The department has since promised on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”
Searching for the president’s name now brings up 625 results as of late Sunday.
Trump, who has long openly raged against ongoing investigations into his relationship with Epstein, previously calling it a “witch hunt,” has been strikingly quiet on the subject since Friday’s release and has yet to comment on the matter.
The president is known to have been close with Epstein as recently as the early 2000s, though he’s said they later had a falling out.
Trump has also said that Epstein “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” in an extremely eyebrow-raising 2002 quote. And in 2011, after his initial conviction for sex crimes, Epstein cryptically referred to the future president as the “dog that didn’t bark” in an email message that was later released.
More on the Epstein files: The Epstein Files Release Website Is Completely Busted
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