Department of Justice Releases and Removes Jeffrey Epstein-Related Documents
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began releasing files associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, posting them to its "Epstein Library" website. Additional files were posted on Saturday.
Document Removals
NPR reported that more than a dozen files released by the DOJ on Friday were no longer accessible by Saturday afternoon. These removed files included one displaying a photo of President Trump on a desk among other photographs, as well as various artworks, some containing nudity.
DOJ's Stated Review Process
The Justice Department's website includes a statement indicating that "all reasonable efforts have been made to review and redact personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure" due to a congressional deadline. The DOJ also acknowledged the possibility of inadvertently including "non-public personally identifiable information or other sensitive content, to include matters of a sexual nature" due to the large volume of information.
The DOJ did not immediately provide a comment regarding the removal of the files.
Congressional Response
Following the initial document release, some members of Congress expressed concerns regarding potential omissions from the data sets.
- Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) stated to NPR that powerful individuals, including bankers and politicians, who were allegedly aware of underage individuals at parties should be held publicly accountable.
- Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who co-sponsored the Epstein Transparency Act with Rep. Khanna, commented on X that the release "grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law." He further stated that a future DOJ could pursue action against current officials for not fully releasing mandated files.
Mentions of Donald Trump
Aside from the photo that became unavailable, mentions and images of Donald Trump were infrequent in the recently released documents. They included a few pictures of him with women and a framed photo of Epstein and a redacted woman with an oversized check signed by Trump, valued at $22,500.
In a previous release of Epstein files by the House Democratic Oversight Committee, Trump was mentioned over a thousand times in emails and text messages. These mentions primarily concerned Epstein's focus on Trump's presidency, with Epstein reportedly positioning himself as an informal advisor to powerful associates regarding Trump.