US opposition: Justice Department deleted Epstein file

Sex offender affair

US opposition: Justice Department deleted Epstein file

Shortly before the weekend, the US Department of Justice will begin releasing Epstein files. Just one day later, several files are suddenly missing – the ministry does not provide an explanation for this.

After thousands of Epstein files began to be published, Democrats in the US Congress accused the Justice Department, which was responsible for the release, of deleting a file. Less than 24 hours after the files could be downloaded from the ministry’s website, a photo appeared to have been removed from a data set, according to the allegation published on X.

Partially framed photos can be seen in the photo in question. One of the photos is older and shows today’s US President Donald Trump with his wife Melania, accompanied by the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his long-time confidant Ghislaine Maxwell. Former US President Bill Clinton can be seen in another picture.

Late on Friday afternoon, after massive public pressure, the US Department of Justice initially uploaded four data sets containing thousands of files to its website. In addition to photos, there were also documents. A lot of things are completely blacked out – the ministry has already received criticism for this.

A sample from the German Press Agency showed that a newer version of the first data set from Saturday contained at least 16 fewer files than a previous version of the archive from Friday afternoon. In addition to the photo that Democrats say is missing, the newer version also no longer includes certain shots of a room with a massage table.

After thousands of files began being published on Friday evening, a spokeswoman for the White House asserted that the current US government is the “most transparent” in the country’s history. According to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, hundreds of thousands more documents will be published in the next few weeks. The pages had to be edited before publication to protect the identity of the victims, he explained the delay in publication.

Photos and other materials will continue to be examined and processed “with great care and in compliance with legal provisions,” the Ministry of Justice said on Sunday on X.

Blanche assured the US broadcaster ABC News that his house had not changed any files to protect President Trump. Nothing will be withheld because of this. He answered in the negative when asked whether there had been an instruction to edit material on the Epstein scandal that had a connection to the president. He continued: “President Trump has made it clear from the beginning that he expects that all files that can be released will be released – and that is exactly what we are doing.”