Picture from the Jeffrey Epstein information launched by the U.S. Justice Division reveals pictures with distinguished individuals together with a Pope, Invoice Clinton, and Donald Trump. Picture was redacted by CNBC.
U.S. Division of Justice
The Division of Justice on Sunday restored on-line a photograph from the Jeffrey Epstein information that contained photos displaying President Donald Trump after backlash over its removing.
The picture, which contained two separate pictures displaying Trump, had been eliminated by the DOJ from public view after being revealed on the division’s web site on Friday. The picture confirmed an array of things on and in Epstein’s desk or credenza.
One of many pictures confirmed Trump with a gaggle of ladies, whereas the opposite was a well known picture displaying him along with his spouse, Melania, Epstein and Epstein’s now-convicted confederate Ghislaine Maxwell.
“The Southern District of New York flagged a picture of President Trump for potential additional motion to guard victims,” the DOJ mentioned in a submit on the social media web site X.
“Out of an abundance of warning, the Division of Justice briefly eliminated the picture for additional overview. After the overview, it was decided there is no such thing as a proof that any Epstein victims are depicted within the {photograph}, and it has been reposted with none alteration or redaction.”
The DOJ didn’t say what it meant by the Southern District of New York. The SDNY can refer each to the federal judicial district that features Manhattan, New York, and the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in that district, which prosecutes federal prison instances.
On Saturday, congressional Democrats questioned the removing of the photograph.
“This photograph, file 468, from the Epstein information that features Donald Trump has apparently now been faraway from the DOJ launch,” Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee mentioned in a submit on X. “@AGPamBondi is that this true? What else is being lined up? We’d like transparency for the American public.”
Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche early Sunday mentioned the picture was faraway from the web site after studying there have been issues about girls within the photograph, “so we pulled that photograph down.”
“It has nothing to do with President Trump,” mentioned Blanche on NBC’s “Meet the Press.
The disappearance of the information got here regardless of a legislation signed by Trump that required the company to make public the entire Epstein information by Friday.
The picture went stay on the DOJ’s web site on Friday, and disappeared from the webpage a number of hours later. The {photograph} confirmed a group of framed and unframed pictures that included Trump and different high-profile figures akin to former President Invoice Clinton and Pope John Paul II.
“After we hear from victims’ rights teams about this sort of {photograph}, we pull it down and examine,” Blanche mentioned.
Earlier this month, SDNY Choose Richard Berman ordered the unsealing of grand jury supplies associated to the DOJ’s prosecution of Epstein in 2019 on youngster intercourse trafficking costs.
That order included a provision that the DOJ tackle survivors’ issues in regards to the content material of the information.
The DOJ on Friday launched only a fraction of paperwork and pictures from the Epstein case, despite the fact that the brand new Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act mandated that each one Justice Division information associated to him and Maxwell be launched by that date.
The DOJ’s failure to launch all materials by that deadline drew sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.
As well as, a number of Epstein victims criticized the DOJ for allegedly not retaining them knowledgeable in regards to the contents of Friday’s launch — a transfer some survivors mentioned might have put them at risk, in keeping with a number of information stories.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. — who with Ro Khanna, D-Calif., co-sponsored the Home invoice that ordered the DOJ to launch the Epstein information — has threatened to carry Justice Division officers accountable for the way the information’ launch has been dealt with.
In an interview Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Massie mentioned some congressional lawmakers are contemplating holding Legal professional Common Pam Bondi in contempt.
“The quickest means, and I feel most expeditious means, to get justice for these victims, is to convey inherent contempt towards Pam Bondi,” Massie mentioned.
