Scrutiny of DOJ’s release of Epstein documents continues into second day

Scrutiny of the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files continued Saturday as 15 images made available Friday disappeared from the department’s website and a top Democratic senator vowed to investigate why all the files were not released at once.

One of the deleted files includes a photo of a table with framed photos of Epstein with famous people. Under the table, an open drawer held two printed photos of President Donald Trump. A photo in the drawer showed Trump standing surrounded by women in swimsuits; the other was a well-known photo of Epstein with Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Trump has not commented on the release of the files and has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said – in part – in a statement Friday that “by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and recently calling for deeper investigations into Epstein’s Democratic friends, the Trump administration has done more for victims than Democrats ever have.” »

The other photos removed from the trove of documents were almost all paintings of nude women in Epstein’s home.

House Oversight Democrats released a photo of the drawer with Trump’s image on Saturday, accusing Attorney General Pam Bondi of withholding information.

“We need transparency for the American public,” Democrats said in an article on X.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment on the missing records.

Lawmakers criticize DOJ

The missing documents come amid some backlash over the Justice Department’s production of documents, which was incomplete despite the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s mandate that unclassified documents — with few exceptions — be produced by Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday the release was several hundred thousand pages short of “all” of the records, and said it would take “a few weeks” for the rest to be released. The DOJ released three additional tranches of documents on Saturday.

Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vowed Saturday to investigate the release of the records, calling the DOJ’s failure to release all the records by Friday a “violation of the law.”

“Yesterday could have been a victory for survivors, accountability and transparency to the public. It was not. After mishandling the Epstein cases all year, the Trump administration is now violating federal law to protect the rich and powerful. It took an act of Congress to force Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to consider justice. They had a choice: the survivors or Donald Trump. They chose the latter,” Durbin said.

“Senate Judiciary Democrats will investigate this violation of the law and ensure the American people are informed,” he added.

Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who sponsored the discharge petition that forced a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, expressed their disillusionment with the DOJ on Friday.

“The filing of documents by the Department of Justice this afternoon is not consistent with Thomas Massie and my Epstein Transparency Act,” Khanna said in a video posted on

Massie agreed with Khanna and lambasted Bondi and Blanche, writing on X Friday that the release “absolutely fails to respect both the spirit and letter of the law which [Trump] signed just 30 days ago.

Censored material

An NBC News analysis found that nearly 700 pages of documents released Friday had been completely redacted. An initial search of the documents released Saturday revealed no mention of “Trump,” “Donald Trump,” “Clinton” or “Bill Clinton” — but the documents contained redacted portions that are not searchable.

Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein affair.

Angel Ureña, Clinton’s spokesperson, released a statement Friday saying, “This is not about Bill Clinton. It never has been and never will be.”

“The White House has not been hiding these files for months only to throw them away late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is to protect itself from what comes next, or what it will try to hide forever,” Ureña wrote.

The documents produced Friday included a number of documents that had already been made public through other means, including lawsuits, court records and previous releases from the House Oversight Committee.

New information is Maria Farmer’s complaint to the FBI in 1996, alleging that Epstein stole nude photos of his 12- and 16-year-old sisters and sold them. Farmer sued the government in May of this year, accusing it of failing to protect her and Epstein’s other victims.

The status of the case is pending and the government has yet to respond to the allegations, other than to request that the case be transferred from Washington, D.C. to the Southern District of Florida.

Clinton is pictured with Epstein in several photos and was also photographed in a hot tub with an individual whose face was redacted. He was also photographed swimming in a pool with Maxwell and with other women whose faces were redacted. The context and date of the photos are unclear. Clinton traveled on Epstein’s jet four times, according to a 2019 statement from her spokesperson.

There was little mention of Trump in the release. Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, told Vanity Fair that Trump was included in the files.

The files contained other high-profile celebrity cameos, including photos of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, actor Kevin Spacey and the late pop star Michael Jackson.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing against Jagger, Spacey or Jackson. The Justice Department said there was nothing in the records to support a third-party investigation.

The dates of the photos are unclear, and representatives for Jagger and Spacey did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the photos.