A day after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) released the first part of the Epstein Files, the Trump administration has been facing backlash for removing 16, including an image of the president, from a trove of documents released on Friday.
A day after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) released the first part of the Epstein Files, the Trump administration has been facing backlash for removing 16, including an image of the president, from a trove of documents released on Friday.
Democrats and Trump critics have been questioning the government’s handling of the controversial files, mentioning the wrongdoings of the British financier and convicted sex offender.
The images and documents in question were deleted on Saturday without any explanation. One of the images that was removed showed one of Epstein’s desks in which two photographs of Trump were visible.
“This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release,” Democrats on the House Oversight committee posted on X on Saturday, referring to the image. “Pam Bondi, is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public,” they added, referring to the US attorney general.
Not only this, the links to the images were deleted from a list of documents on the DoJ website, while attempts to load the files directly were refused. Apart from this, copies were also removed from the downloadable batch folders, which still contained nearly 1,500 other images from the property.
Users on social media also drew attention to the fact that the image containing the Trump photo was made accessible hours later. However, only appears directly from its URL, not appearing on the list of files on the DoJ website.
The DoJ is yet to respond to the request for comment on the removed documents. When asked at the White House about the matter, it referred to the Department of Justice. It is pertinent to note that the questions around the images that were posted and then deleted come as the Trump administration has already faced criticism for heavily redacting thousands of documents related to Epstein on Friday.
The long-awaited disclosure was mandated by a law passed by the US Congress and signed by Trump himself last month. However, the American president has been trying to put a lid on the furore surrounding his past association with Epstein. Not only Democrats but also Republicans, including parts of his own “Maga” base, have been demanding full transparency in the case.
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