The Division of Justice on Sunday restored on-line a photograph from the Jeffrey Epstein recordsdata that contained photographs displaying President Donald Trump after backlash over its removing.
The picture, which contained two separate images displaying Trump, had been eliminated by the DOJ from public view after being revealed on the division’s web site on Friday. The picture confirmed an array of things on and in Epstein’s desk or credenza.
One of many images confirmed Trump with a gaggle of girls, whereas the opposite was a widely known picture displaying him together with his spouse, Melania, Epstein, and Epstein’s now-convicted confederate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“The Southern District of New York flagged a picture of President Trump for potential additional motion to guard victims,” the DOJ mentioned in a submit on the social media website X.
“Out of an abundance of warning, the Division of Justice quickly eliminated the picture for additional assessment. After the assessment, it was decided there is no such thing as a proof that any Epstein victims are depicted within the {photograph}, and it has been reposted with none alteration or redaction.”
The DOJ didn’t say what it meant by the Southern District of New York. The SDNY can refer each to the federal judicial district that features Manhattan, New York, and the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in that district, which prosecutes federal legal instances.
On Saturday, congressional Democrats questioned the removing of the picture.
“This picture, file 468, from the Epstein recordsdata that features Donald Trump has apparently now been faraway from the DOJ launch,” Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee mentioned in a submit on X. “@AGPamBondi is that this true? What else is being coated up? We want transparency for the American public.”
Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche early Sunday mentioned the picture was faraway from the web site after studying there have been issues about ladies within the picture, “so we pulled that picture down.”
“It has nothing to do with President Trump,” mentioned Blanche on NBC’s “Meet the Press.
The disappearance of the recordsdata got here regardless of a regulation signed by Trump that required the company to make public the entire so-called Epstein recordsdata by Friday.
The picture went reside on the DOJ’s web site on Friday, and disappeared from the webpage a number of hours later. The {photograph} confirmed a group of framed and unframed images that included Trump and different high-profile figures akin to former President Invoice Clinton and Pope John Paul II.
“After we hear from victims’ rights teams about the sort of {photograph}, we pull it down and examine,” Blanche mentioned.
Earlier this month, SDNY Decide Richard Berman ordered the unsealing of grand jury supplies associated to the DOJ’s prosecution of Epstein in 2019 on little one intercourse trafficking costs.
That order included a provision that the DOJ deal with survivors’ issues concerning the content material of the recordsdata.Â
The DOJ on Friday launched only a fraction of paperwork and pictures from the Epstein case, although the brand new Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act mandated that every one DOJ recordsdata associated to him and Maxwell be launched by that date.
The DOJ’s failure to launch all materials by that deadline drew sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.Â
As well as, a number of Epstein victims criticized the DOJ for allegedly not maintaining them knowledgeable concerning the contents of Friday’s launch — a transfer some survivors mentioned may have put them at risk, in response to a number of information reviews.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. — who with Ro Khanna, D-Calif., co-sponsored the Home invoice that ordered the DOJ to launch the Epstein recordsdata — has threatened to carry Justice Division officers accountable for a way the recordsdata’ launch has been dealt with.
In an interview Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Massie mentioned some congressional lawmakers are contemplating holding Legal professional Common Pam Bondi in contempt.
“The quickest means, and I believe most expeditious means, to get justice for these victims, is to carry inherent contempt in opposition to Pam Bondi,” Massie mentioned.
