A photo depicting President Donald Trump’s face that was included in the release of the investigative files on notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – and more than a dozen other files – has apparently been removed from the Justice Department’s website.
The photo, released Friday along with a number of other files, shows a desk containing a large selection of framed and unframed photos and other items. Among these photos are at least two in which Trump’s face is clearly visible.
Lawmakers quickly noted Saturday that the image was missing from the DOJ website.
“This photo, File 468, from the Epstein files depicting Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ’s 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.”
The photo featuring Trump was among at least 16 files that disappeared from the site, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Friday’s release contained just a few of the numerous documents that had to be disclosed within a deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which requires the DOJ to disclose all files. The DOJ continued its partial release of additional files related to the investigation early Saturday.
Congress is considering holding impeachment hearings for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche if the released documents do not comply with the law, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Friday.
“What we need is a clear timeline as to when the remaining documents will be released and an explanation as to why they have not released all of them today,” Khanna said during a press conference after the files were released.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who along with Khanna sponsored the House bill ordering the Justice Department to release the files, accused the DOJ on Saturday of blatantly flouting the law.
“Compare the language of the Epstein Files Transparency Act directing the DOJ to provide internal notices of its decisions with the DOJ’s letter to Congress asserting the right to omit materials related to decisions because they are not established by law,” Massie wrote in a post on X.
From left, Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida on February 12, 2000.
Davidoff Studios Photography | Archive photos | Getty Images
Although Trump is a former friend of Epstein, the president has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He has also denied that he had any knowledge of Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and women.
Trump’s name and picture appeared conspicuously rarely in the files released Friday. Recently, however, Trump appeared in several images released by House Democrats, who obtained the photos directly from Epstein’s estate.
The DOJ said in a post late Friday
“The only redactions applied to the documents are those required by law – period,” Blanche said. “In accordance with the law and applicable laws, we will not redact the names of individuals or politicians unless they are victims.”
Blanche, who previously worked as a criminal defense attorney for Trump, echoed that sentiment in an interview with ABC News on Friday, saying there was “no effort” to redact any mention of the president in the release of the files.
The White House referred questions about the missing photo to the DOJ.
CNBC has reached out to the Justice Department and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., for comment.
Former President Bill Clinton appeared in several photos released Friday, and it is unclear when and where they were taken. One showed Clinton sitting in a chair next to a young woman who was sitting on the arm of the chair.
The former president has also not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said Friday: “The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months just to dump them late Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about protecting themselves from what’s next, or what they’re trying to hide forever. So they can release as many grainy, 20-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton.”
“There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and interrupted Epstein before his crimes came to light,” Urena added. “The second group continued the relationship with him after that. We’re in the first. Even stalling the people in the second group won’t change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”
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