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The documents were removed by the Justice Department without explanation
Rhian Lubin in New York Saturday 20 December 2025 22:19 GMT- Bookmark
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CloseEpstein survivors' lawyer hits out at redaction of newly released files
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The Department of Justice has removed at least 16 files from the Jeffrey Epstein documents it released Friday without any explanation, including one including a picture of President Donald Trump, as Democrats accused the administration of a “cover-up.”
Trump’s photograph appeared several times among the thousands of documents, which were undated and lacked any context.
Among the files that appear to have been removed from the DOJ’s website since Friday’s publication is a photograph taken of Epstein’s desk or a bureau, with the drawers open.
Inside the drawers is a photo of a man who appears to be Trump, dressed in a white shirt, standing with a group of women, including at least one who is wearing a bikini. The identities of the women are not known and their faces were not redacted in the photograph.
Behind the photo is another partially obscured image, where the faces of Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, are visible. This photo appears to have been widely circulated and features the Trumps before they were married at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.
open image in galleryThis photograph, taken of Jeffrey Epstein’s desk that appears to include two images of Donald Trump, has since been removed by the Department of Justice without explanation (DOJ)The file — numbered 468 — was no longer visible on the DOJ’s website Saturday.
Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has said that he parted ways as friends with Epstein years ago.
“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 wrote on X Saturday. “[Attorney General Pam Bondi] is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
Another photograph of a credenza, where a framed picture of Trump, Melania, and the sex offender is visible, remained on the DOJ’s website Saturday.
Other documents that appeared to have been taken down were photographs inside a room with a massage table, with nude portraits on the walls.
open image in galleryA photograph of Epstein’s credenza, including a framed picture of Trump, Melania and the sex offender, remained on the DOJ’s website Saturday (DOJ)A White House spokesperson told The Independent that the Trump administration was “the most transparent in history” when contacted for comment on the apparent removal of the photograph of the president.
“By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” said Abigail Jackson.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats accused the Trump administration of “one of the biggest cover ups in American history.”
“This is what Susie Wiles meant when she said Trump and Epstein were ‘young, single playboys together,’” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“And if they’re taking this down, just imagine how much more they’re trying to hide…” he added. “This could be one of the biggest cover ups in American history.”
open image in gallerySurvivors of Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse pushed for more transparency, as hundreds of pages of documents were completely redacted (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California also accused the administration of a “cover-up.”
“Trump’s DOJ appears to be scrubbing any mentions of Trump from the Epstein files after they were already public,” Gomez said Saturday in a post on X.
“Every deleted file, every redaction after-the-fact is outrageous and unacceptable. This is an active cover-up, and we need answers,” he added.
There is growing anger among survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse over the files released Friday as they pushed for more transparency after hundreds of pages of documents were completely redacted.
The Justice Department acknowledged that it would not be releasing all of the documents on the December 19 deadline as set out by law in the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but that it would release more in the next two weeks.
“I knew going into this and just how Trump likes to play his little tactics,” Haley Robson, an Epstein survivor who voted for Trump but says she has come to regret it, told The Independent. “I knew with all the obstacles we've already rendered and the administration's flip flop, I already knew that we were not going to see the files as we should be getting them.”
Josh Marcus contributed reporting
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