A photo showing President Donald Trump’s face that was included in the release of the investigative files on notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein — and more than a dozen other files — appears to have been removed from the Department of Justice’s website.
The photo, released on Friday along with a slew of other files, shows a desk displaying a large assortment of framed and unframed photographs and other items. Among those photographs are at least two that clearly show Trump’s face.
Lawmakers on Saturday 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 featuring Trump was among the at least 16 files that disappeared from the site, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Friday’s release included only some of the vast number of documents required to be disclosed under a deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandated that the DOJ divulge all the files. The DOJ continued its partial release with more files tied to the investigation early Saturday.
Congress is considering holding impeachment hearings about Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche if the documents that were released don’t comply with the law, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Friday.
“What we need is a clear timeline of when the rest of the documents will be released and an explanation for why they did not release all of them today,” Khanna said during a press conference following the files’ release.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who co-sponsored the House bill with Khanna that ordered the Justice Department to release the files, on Saturday, accused the DOJ of openly disregarding the law.
“Compare Language of Epstein Files Transparency Act directing DOJ to provide internal communications regarding their decisions Versus DOJ letter to Congress asserting privilege to omit materials related to decisions, because they weren’t specified by law,” Massie wrote in a post 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 Feb. 12, 2000.
Davidoff Studios Photography | Archive Photos | Getty Images
While Trump is a former friend of Epstein, the president has not been accused of wrongdoing. He has also denied his awareness of Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and women.
The appearance of Trump’s name and image was noticeably scarce in the files made public Friday. Recently, however, Trump has been shown in a number of images that were released by House Democrats, who obtained the photos directly from Epstein’s estate.
The DOJ said in a post on X late Friday that it wasn’t “redacting the names of any politicians” and cited comments made by Blanche reiterating such.
“The only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law — full stop,” Blanche said. “Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim.”
Blanche, who previously served as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, echoed that sentiment in an interview with ABC News on Friday, saying that there has been “no effort” to redact any mention of the president in the files’ release.
The White House referred questions about the missing photo to the DOJ.
CNBC has reached out to the Justice Department as well as House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., for comment.
Former President Bill Clinton appeared in several photos released Friday, and it is unclear when or where they were taken. One showed Clinton sitting in a chair next to a young woman, who sat on the chair’s armrest.
The former president has also not been accused of wrongdoing.
Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Urena, on Friday said, “The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want but this isn’t about Bill Clinton.”
“There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light,” Urena added. “The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
