Some Epstein files are no longer available; other files criticised
Dec. 20 (UPI) — Some Jeffrey Epstein case files released on Friday by the Justice Department are not available one day later, and other files have drawn criticism for redactions and other concerns.
More than a dozen files that were available on Friday have disappeared from the DOJ’s Epstein Library webpage, which enables visitors to search for and download files, NPR reported.
One missing file shows a photo on a desk of President Donald Trump, while others showed artwork, some of which included nudity, according to NPR.
The DOJ’s Epstein Library webpage instructs visitors to report files that they don’t think should be made available by sending an email to a provided address, but it’s unknown if the missing files were reported.
Many files have redacted information, which prompted some to suggest the White House ensured Trump’s name had been redacted.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday told ABC News there is no effort to conceal the president’s name or those of other high-profile individuals.
“We’re not redacting the names of famous men and women that are associated with Epstein,” Blanche said, as reported by ABC News.
“President Trump has certainly said from the beginning that he expects all files that can be released to be released, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he added later.
A spokesman for President Bill Clinton suggested the Trump administration intentionally released photographs that included one showing the former president with Ghislaine Maxwell and a woman whose face was redacted, according to The Guardian.
Another photo shows Clinton dining with Epstein and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted the pic of Clinton at the poolside on social media and preceded by “Oh my!”
Clinton spokesman Angel Urena afterward accused the White House of “hiding these files for months” and releasing them late on Friday while “shielding themselves from what comes next or from what they’ll try and hide forever” in a post on X.
He said the Epstein files “isn’t about Bill Clinton” and “never has, never will be.”
The DOJ began posting those files and hundreds of thousands of others on Friday in response to a newly enacted law requiring their release to ensure transparency.
Epstein was a financier and convicted sex offender who died when he hung himself in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting a federal trial on charges accusing him of sex-trafficking of minors.
