At the very least 16 information disappeared from the Justice Division’s public webpage for paperwork associated to Jeffrey Epstein — together with {a photograph} displaying President Donald Trump — lower than a day after they had been posted, with no rationalization from the federal government and no discover to the general public.
The lacking information, which had been accessible Friday and not accessible by Saturday, included pictures of work depicting nude ladies, and one displaying a collection of images alongside a credenza and in drawers. In that picture, inside a drawer amongst different pictures, was {a photograph} of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Division didn’t reply questions Saturday about why the information disappeared however stated in a put up on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”
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Photographs and different supplies will proceed being reviewed and redacted in keeping with the regulation in an abundance of warning as we obtain further info. https://t.co/xXngYQ4Qaw
— U.S. Division of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) December 21, 2025
On-line, the unexplained lacking information fueled hypothesis about what was taken down and why the general public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the highly effective figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee pointed to the lacking picture that includes a Trump photograph in a put up on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
Associated | Shocker: Trump regime will not observe regulation on Epstein information launch
The episode deepened considerations that had already emerged from the Justice Division’s much-anticipated doc launch. The tens of hundreds of pages made public supplied little new perception into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial choices that allowed him to keep away from critical federal costs for years, whereas omitting among the most carefully watched supplies, together with FBI interviews with victims and inside Justice Division memos on charging choices.
Scant new perception within the preliminary disclosures
A few of the most consequential data anticipated about Epstein are nowhere to be discovered within the Justice Division’s preliminary disclosures, which span tens of hundreds of pages.
This photograph launched by the U.S. Division of Justice reveals a room in Jeffrey Epstein’s house in July 2019, in New York.
Lacking are FBI interviews with survivors and inside Justice Division memos analyzing charging choices — data that would have helped clarify how investigators seen the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead responsible to a comparatively minor state-level prostitution cost.
The gaps go additional.
The data, required to be launched below a current regulation handed by Congress, hardly reference a number of highly effective figures lengthy related to Epstein, together with Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions on who was scrutinized, who was not, and the way a lot the disclosures really advance public accountability
Among the many recent nuggets: perception into the Justice Division’s choice to desert an investigation into Epstein within the 2000s, which enabled him to plead responsible to that state-level cost, and a beforehand unseen 1996 grievance accusing Epstein of stealing images of kids.
The releases to this point have been heavy on pictures of Epstein’s properties in New York Metropolis and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some pictures of celebrities and politicians.
There was a collection of never-before-seen pictures of former President Invoice Clinton however fleetingly few of Trump. Each have been related to Epstein, however each have since disowned these friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in reference to Epstein and there was no indication the pictures performed a job within the prison circumstances introduced in opposition to him.
Regardless of a Friday deadline set by Congress to make all the things public, the Justice Division stated it plans to launch data on a rolling foundation. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming technique of obscuring survivors’ names and different figuring out info. The division has not given any discover when extra data would possibly arrive.
That method angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to move the regulation pressured the division to behave. As an alternative of marking the tip of a yearslong battle for transparency, the doc launch Friday was merely the start of an indefinite wait for a whole image of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to research them.
“I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” stated Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein began sexually abusing her at his New York Metropolis mansion when she was 14.
Lots of the long-anticipated data had been redacted or lacked context
Federal prosecutors in New York introduced intercourse trafficking costs in opposition to Epstein in 2019, however he killed himself in jail after his arrest.
The paperwork simply made public had been a sliver of doubtless hundreds of thousands of pages data within the division’s possession. In a single instance, Deputy Legal professional Basic Todd Blanche stated Manhattan federal prosecutors had greater than 3.6 million data from intercourse trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, although many duplicated materials already turned over by the FBI.
This photograph launched by the U.S. Division of Justice reveals a room in Jeffrey Epstein’s house in July 2019, in New York.
Lots of the data launched to this point had been made public in courtroom filings, congressional releases or freedom of data requests, although, for the primary time, they had been multi functional place and accessible for the general public to seek for free.
Ones that had been new had been usually missing crucial context or closely blacked out. A 119-page doc marked “Grand Jury-NY,” seemingly from one of many federal intercourse trafficking investigations that led to the fees in opposition to Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was totally blacked out.
The meatiest data launched to this point confirmed that federal prosecutors had what seemed to be a robust case in opposition to Epstein in 2007 but by no means charged him.
Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, launched publicly for the primary time, included testimony from FBI brokers who described interviews they’d with a number of ladies and younger ladies who described being paid to carry out intercourse acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.
One had informed investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances throughout a therapeutic massage.
One other, then 21, testified earlier than the grand jury about how Epstein had employed her when she was 16 to carry out a sexual therapeutic massage and the way she had gone on to recruit different ladies to do the identical.
“For every girl that I brought to the table he would give me $200,” she stated. They had been principally folks she knew from highschool, she stated. “I also told them that if they are under age, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”
The paperwork additionally include a transcript of an interview Justice Division legal professionals did greater than a decade later with the U.S. legal professional who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his final choice to not deliver federal costs.
Acosta, who was labor secretary throughout Trump’s first time period, cited considerations about whether or not a jury would consider Epstein’s accusers.
He additionally stated the Justice Division might need been extra reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the authorized border between intercourse trafficking and soliciting prostitution, one thing extra generally dealt with by state prosecutors.
“I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He additionally stated that the general public right now would seemingly view the survivors otherwise.
“There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta stated.
Jennifer Freeman, an legal professional representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and different survivors, stated Saturday that her shopper feels vindicated after the doc launch. Farmer searched for years paperwork backing up her declare that Epstein and Maxwell had been in possession of kid sexual abuse pictures.
“It’s a triumph and a tragedy,” she stated. “It looks like the government did absolutely nothing. Horrible things have happened and if they investigated in even the smallest way, they could have stopped him.”
