Amid backlash over removed photos from the recently released Epstein files, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi reaffirmed on Sunday that the Department of Justice "previously stated we will bring charges against anyone involved in the trafficking and exploitation of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims."
She posted on X, "We reaffirm this commitment, and ask any victim to please come forward with any information pertaining to any individuals who engaged in illicit activity at their expense."
She said the authorities met with many victims and victim groups, and will continue to do so if more reach out.
"Please contact myself, DAG Blanche, or the FBI, and we will investigate immediately. We believe in the equal standard of justice in this country and will ensure that Justice is served," Bondi said.
Earlier, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department officials were protecting victims of Jeffrey Epstein when they removed several images from the agency’s release of files tied to the notorious sex offender.
“There were a number of photographs that were pulled down after being released on Friday,” Blanche said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “That’s because a judge in New York has ordered us to listen to any victim or victim rights group if they have any concerns about the material that we’re putting up,” Blanche said.
Jeffrey Epstein files controversy
The Justice Department released thousands of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, December 19. The department, however, received criticism for redacting and allegedly removing photos from the files already released on Friday.
Up to 16 photos, including the desk drawer Trump image, were removed on Saturday from the Justice Department website, according to The New York Times, NPR and the Associated Press, although Reuters could not independently confirm the removals.
The Justice Department said later Sunday it restored one photo after determining “there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier on Sunday his office removed the photo because of concerns about women in the photo. “It has nothing to do with President Trump,” Blanche said during a Sunday morning appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker."
“You can see in that photo there are photographs of women,” Blanche said earlier on Sunday. “And so we learned after releasing that photograph that there were concerns about those women and the fact that we had put that photo up. So we pulled that photo down. It has nothing to do with President Trump.”
However, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee accused the Trump administration of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act and shielding President Donald Trump.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said on CNN’s State of the Union that the administration is “covering up things that, for whatever reason, Donald Trump doesn’t want to go public.”
Blanche rejected that allegation, pledging that nothing related to Trump in the files would be withheld.
“If President Trump is mentioned, if there’s photographs that we have of President Trump or anybody else, they of course will be released, with the exception of any victims or survivors that we’ve identified,” he told NBC.
