Files in Epstein case with Trump's photo disappear from US DOJ website
At least 16 documents and files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein disappeared from the US Department of Justice website less than 24 hours after they were published.
It was reported by The Associated Press.
The materials were available on Friday, but on Saturday they were no longer publicly available. The deleted files include photos of naked women, as well as photos of current US President Donald Trump. In particular, we are talking about photos that Epstein kept in a drawer: in them, Trump poses with Epstein himself, his future wife Melania Trump, and Ghislaine Maxwell, the financier's convicted accomplice.
The reasons for the disappearance of the materials were not explained by the Department of Justice. It is also unknown whether it was a conscious decision. At the same time, the incident has already sparked a new wave of suspicion about Epstein's possible ties to Donald Trump.
Democratic Party representatives on the House Oversight Committee drew attention to the absence of a photo with Trump and accused the Department of Justice, headed by the president's ally Pam Bondi, of hiding information.
"What else is being hidden? We need transparency for the American public," the Democrats said on X.
In response, the US Department of Justice only said that all photos and other materials "will continue to be reviewed and redacted in accordance with the law with the utmost care."
What photos are in question in the Epstein case?
On December 19, the Department of Justice released tens of thousands of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Among them were many photographs of famous people, but a significant part of the materials lost their informational value due to censorship introduced to protect the privacy of individuals.
At the same time, the documents that aroused the greatest public interest, including the FBI's interrogation protocols of victims and internal materials of the Department of Justice on making decisions on charges, were not published.
The photos released include 42nd US President Bill Clinton, actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker, musicians Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger, British Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, billionaire Richard Branson, and illusionist David Copperfield, who was captured in an embrace with Ghislaine Maxwell.
What does Donald Trump have to do with the Epstein case?
Epstein's case has once again become political after lawmakers from both parties released new material - including emails in which Epstein mentions Donald Trump.
In response, Trump accused Democrats of trying to divert attention from the government's political problems and said he would ask the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate a number of Democrats' ties to Epstein - including Bill Clinton, major donor Reid Hoffman and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
One of the documents stated, that almost a month before Donald Trump met with vladimir putin in Helsinki in 2018, Jeffrey Epstein tried to convey a message to the russian leadership: if you want to understand Trump, talk to me. This is evidenced by emails released by the US Congress on Wednesday.
Prior to that, American lawmakers stated that they had received a copy of a book with birthday cards from the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Among them is a 2003 card with a drawing of a naked woman signed with the name of the current US President Donald Trump
Later, Trump changed his position and called on Republicans in Congress to support the publication of all documents related to the case.