The US Justice Department has restored an image it removed just a day earlier from the public release of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, as per The Guardian. This specific photo, which included a picture of President Donald Trump, was initially flagged for potentially exposing victims of the late convicted sex offender.
The department stated on X that after a review, it determined there was “no evidence” that any Epstein victims were depicted in the photograph, so it is back up without any changes or redactions. The image in question was a photograph of Epstein’s desk in his New York mansion, which featured two photographs of President Trump visible on the surface.
This whole unexplained removal immediately triggered accusations from Democrats about clear political interference favoring the president, who was a former friend of Epstein. Democrats on the House Oversight committee were quick to respond, posting on X that this photo, file 468, had been removed from the DOJ release. They demanded transparency, later calling the incident a “White House cover-up.”
That honestly looked like a cover-up
Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche jumped into the fray, insisting that the removal of images, including the one of President Trump, had “nothing to do” with the president. Blanche maintained that the 16 removals happened because victim advocacy groups requested them. He told stated that the department had pulled the images down to investigate because they “don’t have perfect information.” He promised the images “will go back up,” with the only question being whether they needed redactions.
However, it seems the real issue might be under-redaction, not just the single image of President Trump. Victims’ rights advocate Gloria Allred told CNN that the “system has failed the survivors.” She saw a number of survivors’ names that should never have been published, noting that the whole point of the process is to protect survivors. Allred also expressed concern about images of potential victims that were not redacted, including some that “may be of women unclothed.”
One victim actually wrote a redacted letter posted to X detailing the extraordinary contradiction they faced. This victim had reported Epstein to the FBI back in 2009, but they had never been allowed to view their own FBI file. Now, their identity was publicly released in the mass document dump. They wrote that the contradiction is “extraordinary,” since the DOJ asserts their file requires “prolonged review,” yet had no difficulty publicly releasing their identity.
The Justice Department’s handling of the files has led to broader criticism about the inadequacy of the overall release. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the initial document release “inadequate” and said it “falls short of what the law requires.” He argued that legal statutes require the Justice Department to give Congress and the American people a written explanation within 15 days as to why documents are withheld.
Democrats are claiming the files released so far have been heavily redacted and selected specifically to paint Democrats, like former President Bill Clinton, in a bad light. Pictures of Clinton luxuriating in a hot tub with Ghislaine Maxwell were included in the release, putting him right back in the middle of the scandal. Earlier, Mark Epstein attempted to clarify a leaked old email that talked about photos of Donald Trump “blowing Bubba.”
Published: Dec 22, 2025 02:30 pm