Removing photos from Epstein files release ‘nothing to do’ with Trump, deputy AG says

Deputy US attorney general Todd Blanche said on Sunday that removing photos from Friday’s Jeffrey Epstein files release, including one of Donald Trump, has “nothing to do” with the president – and maintained the images would likely go back up after it is determined whether they need redactions.

Blanche said the 16 removals came at the request of victim advocacy groups. “We don’t have perfect information,” Blanche told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday. “And so when, when we hear from victims-rights groups about this type of photograph, we pull it down and investigate.”

As Blanche put it, an investigation into the photos was ongoing, and they “will go back up,” with the only question being “whether there will be redactions”.

Victims rights advocate Gloria Allred told CNN on Saturday that the “system has failed the survivors”, including with the release of files that may have been “under-redacted”.

“I saw a number of survivors’ names which should never have been published, because the whole point is to protect the survivors,” she told the outlet.

“The other concern I have also has to do with the images of some of the potential victims and survivors, that some of those images were not redacted, should have been redacted, and in some cases, the images may be of women unclothed. And that is completely unacceptable.”

Blanche’s and Allred’s comments came as the Trump administration faced criticism over its handling of Friday’s partial release when a complete one had been required by congressional act.

The release of justice department files related to Epstein – who was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor and died while awaiting sex trafficking charges – otherwise dominated the Sunday talkshows. Democrat officials claimed the government had fallen short of its legal obligation to release the investigative documents in full.

“This initial documents release is inadequate,” said House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, on ABC’s This Week. “It falls short of what the law requires.”

Jeffries argued that legal statutes require the justice department “to provide a written explanation to Congress and to the American people as to why they’ve withheld certain documents” within 15 days.

The comments come after California representative Ro Khanna, Jeffries’ fellow House Democrat, said there should be impeachment proceedings against attorney general Pam Bondi for the failure to release the Epstein documents in full by 19 December. That date was set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act co-authored by Khanna.

On Sunday, Blanche argued the government did not have time to review all the files to make redactions needed to protect victims.

“It’s very simple and very clear,” Blanche said. “The statute also requires us to protect victims. And so the reason why we are still reviewing documents and still continuing our process is simply that – to protect the victims.

“So the same individuals that are out there complaining about the lack of documents that were produced on Friday are the same individuals who apparently don’t want us to protect victims,” he added.

Images removed from the DoJ disclosures page on Saturday included a photograph of Epstein’s desk in his New York mansion in which two photographs of Trump were visible. The images were also removed from downloadable folders.

“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 posted on X on Saturday.

“Pam Bondi is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public,” they added.

“This is a White House cover-up,” the Democrat members of the committee said in a later post.

In a statement, the justice department said: “Photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”

Criticism of the file alteration speaks to the highly-charged political nature of the congressionally-ordered document dump, with Democrats claiming that the files released so far have been heavily redacted and selected to paint Democrats, including former president Bill Clinton, in a bad light.

Republicans on the committee responded, saying that earlier, Democrat-selected releases “have repeatedly posted cherry-picked edited photos to try to score political points and create a hoax against President Trump. They chase headlines at the expense of victims. They can NEVER be trusted to run serious investigations.”

Arguments over redactions, removals and politically-inspired editing have put Clinton back in the frame of the scandal, after pictures of the former president luxuriating in a hot tub with Ghislaine Maxwell and what appeared to be a young woman were included in the release.

“It’s obvious what the Republicans in the White House and at Justice and their desperate congressional cronies are doing,” a Clinton spokesperson said. “What they’re hiding is not obvious. But it must not be good.”

Bill and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former first lady, are under pressure to testify before the committee.

Trump-aligned Republicans calling for “transparency” are also sounding alarm. US House member Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, said she is concerned about “unnecessary redactions” – but added that she is “also concerned about making sure we are protecting the faces of potential victims and their names”.

But it is clear justice department redactions may also have been too aggressive in some instances. A picture of Clinton, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross on a plane released on Friday was also redacted to obscure a child’s face. The child later turned out to Jackson’s son, and the unaltered image readily available from commercial photo archives.