Epstein files: Removals had ‘nothing to do' with Trump, says Todd Blanche as dozens of photos vanish from DOJ website
Over the weekend, several media outlets had reported that around 15 to 16 photos that had initially been uploaded on Friday as part of the Epstein files release had been deleted by the DOJ, sparking speculation about a cover-up to shield President Donald Trump.
A day after reports claimed that over a dozen files related to disgraced financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein had 'vanished' from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) website, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the move to take down the photos.
Over the weekend, several media outlets, including New York Post, had reported that around 15 to 16 photos that had initially been uploaded on Friday had been deleted by the DOJ.
Reports also claimed that one of the deleted photos—'file 468'—showed an open drawer with a printed picture of President Donald Trump, sparking speculation that the DOJ was covering up evidence and trying to protect POTUS.
However, Blanche on Sunday dismissed the speculation, acknowledging that some photos had indeed been removed and explaining the reason behind the removals.
‘Nothing to do with Trump’
In an interview with NBC for its 'Meet the Press' programme, Blanche on Sunday said that photos, including one showing President Donald Trump, had been removed, but at the behest of victim advocacy groups to protect peoples' identities.
"You can see in that photo there are photographs of women. 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," Blanche told NBC.
Blanche's comments is the latest in the saga involving the Epstein files, whose release was mandated by Congress after a bipartisan push to publicize the material overcame Trump's own objections to the same.
DOJ faces harsh criticism
As part of the release mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the DOJ on Friday released thousands of pages of records, including flight logs, grand jury transcripts, and contact lists, as well as never-before-seen photographs found in Epstein's possession.
In Friday's release, several figures associated with Epstein were seen in the photos or mentioned in the files, including former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew (now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor), as well as celebrity figures such as Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Richard Branson among others.
Trump, meanwhile, was seen in a printed photo showing him, Melania Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Jeffrey Epstein.
Another heavily redacted photo showed Epstein holding a $22,500 novelty check bearing Trump's signature.
Hours, after the release of the files, 15 to 16 specific files (including the photo of Trump) reportedly vanished from the DOJ website, leading critics to question the timing.
Critics pointed out that heavy redactions—one 119-page document labeled 'Grand Jury-NY' was entirely redacted—went against the nature of full disclosure mandated by the aforementioned transparency act.
The DOJ, for its part, reacted to the wave of harsh criticism by saying, "Photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information."
However, a day later, on Sunday, the DOJ released the Grand Jury document with "minimal redactions".
When a journalist pointed out that the DOJ had redacted a document which had been uploaded with lesser redactions in January 2024 (and was still available on the website), the department washed its hands off.
"Redactions were applied to those documents when they were filed in the respective court cases back in the day. We reproduced the documents as we had them in our possession," the DOJ said.