A photo showing President Donald Trump’s face that was included in the release of investigative files on notorious sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein — and more than a dozen other files — appears to have been removed from the Justice Department’s website.
The photo, released Friday along with numerous other files, shows a desk displaying a large assortment of framed and unframed photographs and other items. Among these photographs, there are at least two that clearly show Trump’s face.
On Saturday, lawmakers were quick to note that the image was missing from the DOJ website.
“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 said in a post on X. “@AGPamBondi is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
The photo depicting Trump was among at least 16 files that disappeared from the site, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Friday’s release included only a portion of the large number of documents required to be released within the deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the DOJ to release all files. The DOJ continued its partial release with other records related to the investigation early Saturday.
Congress is considering holding impeachment hearings against Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche if the released documents do not comply with the law, Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, said Friday.
“What we need is a clear timetable for when the rest of the documents will be released and an explanation for why they haven’t released them all today,” Khanna said at a news conference after the files were released.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who co-sponsored the House bill with Khanna that ordered the Justice Department to release the records, on Saturday accused the DOJ of open disregard for the law.
“Compare the language of the Epstein File Transparency Act ordering the DOJ to provide internal communications regarding their decisions with the DOJ’s letter to Congress asserting the privilege to omit documents related to the decisions, because they were not specified by law,” Massie wrote in an article on X.
From left, Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 12, 2000.
Davidoff Studios Photography | Photo archives | Getty Images
Although Trump is a former friend of Epstein, the president has not been accused of wrongdoing. He also denied knowledge of Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and women.
Trump’s name and image were noticeably scarce in the files made public Friday. However, recently, Trump was shown in a number of images released by House Democrats, who obtained the photos directly from Epstein’s estate.
The DOJ said in an article on X Friday evening that it was not “redacting the names of any politicians” and cited Blanche’s comments reiterating those remarks.
“The only redactions applied to records are those required by law, period,” Blanche said. “In accordance with the statute and applicable laws, we do not redact the names of individuals or politicians unless they are victims.”
Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney, echoed that sentiment in an interview with ABC News on Friday, saying there was “no effort” to redact any mention of the president in the release of the records.
The White House referred questions about the missing photo to the DOJ.
CNBC has contacted the Justice Department as well as House Oversight Committee Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., for comment.
Former President Bill Clinton appeared in several photos released Friday, and it’s unclear when or where they were taken. One showed Clinton sitting in a chair next to a young woman sitting on the chair’s armrest.
The former president has also not been accused of wrongdoing.
Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said Friday: “The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months just to throw them out late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is to protect themselves from what comes next, or what they will try to hide forever. So they can release as many grainy photos that are over 20 years old as they want, but it’s not about Bill Clinton.”
“There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes were revealed,” Urena added. “The second group continued their dealings with him afterward. We are in the first. No amount of hesitation from members of the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, is looking for answers, not scapegoats.”
— CNBC’s Dan Pangan reports.
