Photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department shows photos with prominent people including a Pope, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. Image was redacted by CNBC.
U.S. Department of Justice
The Department of Justice on Sunday restored online a photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files that contained images showing President Donald Trump after backlash over its removal.
The image, which contained two separate photos showing Trump, had been removed by the DOJ from public view after being published on the department’s website on Friday. The image showed an array of items on and in Epstein’s desk or credenza.
One of the photos showed Trump with a group of women, while the other was a well-known image showing him with his wife, Melania, Epstein, and Epstein’s now-convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“The Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims,” the DOJ said in a post on the social media site X.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the image for further review. 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 DOJ did not say what it meant by the Southern District of New York. The SDNY can refer both to the federal judicial district that includes Manhattan, New York, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in that district, which prosecutes federal criminal cases.
On Saturday, congressional Democrats questioned the removal of the photo.
“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 said in a post on X. “@AGPamBondi is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche early Sunday said the image was removed from the website after learning there were concerns about women in the photo, “so we pulled that photo down.”
“It has nothing to do with President Trump,” said Blanche on NBC’s “Meet the Press.
The disappearance of the files came despite a law signed by Trump that required the agency to make public all of the so-called Epstein files by Friday.
The image went live on the DOJ’s website on Friday, and disappeared from the webpage several hours later. The photograph showed a collection of framed and unframed photos that included Trump and other high-profile figures such as former President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II.
“When we hear from victims’ rights groups about this type of photograph, we pull it down and investigate,” Blanche said.
Earlier this month, SDNY Judge Richard Berman ordered the unsealing of grand jury materials related to the DOJ’s prosecution of Epstein in 2019 on child sex trafficking charges.
That order included a provision that the DOJ address survivors’ concerns about the content of the files.
The DOJ on Friday released just a fraction of documents and images from the Epstein case, even though the new Epstein Files Transparency Act mandated that all DOJ files related to him and Maxwell be released by that date.
The DOJ’s failure to release all material by that deadline drew sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.
In addition, several Epstein victims criticized the DOJ for allegedly not keeping them informed about the contents of Friday’s release — a move some survivors said could have put them in danger, according to several news reports.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. — who with Ro Khanna, D-Calif., co-sponsored the House bill that ordered the DOJ to release the Epstein files — has threatened to hold Justice Department officials accountable for how the files’ release has been handled.
In an interview Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Massie said some congressional lawmakers are considering holding Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt.
“The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way, to get justice for these victims, is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi,” Massie said.