3 months ago
30
NEW YORK -- At slightest 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department's nationalist webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein - including a photograph showing President Donald Trump - little than a time aft they were posted, with nary mentation from the authorities and nary announcement to the public.
The missing files, which were disposable Friday and nary longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and 1 showing a bid of photographs on a credenza and successful drawers. In that image, wrong a drawer among different photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein's longtime subordinate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Department didn't reply questions Saturday astir wherefore the files disappeared but said successful a station connected X that "photos and different materials volition proceed being reviewed and redacted accordant with the instrumentality successful an abundance of caution arsenic we person further information."
Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation astir what was taken down and wherefore the nationalist was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue astir Epstein and the almighty figures who surrounded him. Democrats connected the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing representation featuring a Trump photograph successful a station connected X, writing: "What other is being covered up? We request transparency for the American public."
The occurrence deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department's much-anticipated papers release. The tens of thousands of pages made nationalist offered small caller penetration into Epstein's crimes oregon the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to debar superior national charges for years, portion omitting immoderate of the astir intimately watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and interior Justice Department memos connected charging decisions.
Scant caller penetration successful the archetypal disclosures
Some of the astir consequential records expected astir Epstein are obscurity to beryllium recovered successful the Justice Department's archetypal disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.
Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and interior Justice Department memos examining charging decisions - records that could person helped explicate however investigators viewed the lawsuit and wherefore Epstein was allowed successful 2008 to plead blameworthy to a comparatively insignificant state-level prostitution charge.
The gaps spell further.
The records, required to beryllium released nether a caller instrumentality passed by Congress, hardly notation respective almighty figures agelong associated with Epstein, including Britain's erstwhile Prince Andrew, renewing questions astir who was scrutinized, who was not, and however overmuch the disclosures genuinely beforehand nationalist accountability
Among the caller nuggets: penetration into the Justice Department's determination to wantonness an probe into Epstein successful the 2000s, which enabled him to plead blameworthy to that state-level charge, and a antecedently unseen 1996 ailment accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.
The releases truthful acold person been dense connected images of Epstein's homes successful New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with immoderate photos of celebrities and politicians.
There was a bid of never-before-seen photos of erstwhile President Bill Clinton but fleetingly fewer of Trump. Both person been associated with Epstein, but some person since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of immoderate wrongdoing successful transportation with Epstein and determination was nary denotation the photos played a relation successful the transgression cases brought against him.
Despite a Friday deadline acceptable by Congress to marque everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to merchandise records connected a rolling basis. It blamed the hold connected the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors' names and different identifying information. The section has not fixed immoderate announcement erstwhile much records mightiness arrive.
That attack angered immoderate Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to walk the instrumentality forced the section to act. Instead of marking the extremity of a yearslong conflict for transparency, the papers merchandise Friday was simply the opening of an indefinite hold for a implicit representation of Epstein's crimes and the steps taken to analyse them.
"I consciousness similar again the DOJ, the justness strategy is failing us," said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her astatine his New York City mansion erstwhile she was 14.
Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted oregon lacked context
Federal prosecutors successful New York brought enactment trafficking charges against Epstein successful 2019, but helium killed himself successful jailhouse aft his arrest.
The documents conscionable made nationalist were a sliver of perchance millions of pages records successful the department's possession. In 1 example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan national prosecutors had much than 3.6 cardinal records from enactment trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though galore duplicated worldly already turned implicit by the FBI.
Many of the records released truthful acold had been made nationalist successful tribunal filings, legislature releases oregon state of accusation requests, though, for the archetypal time, they were each successful 1 spot and disposable for the nationalist to hunt for free.
Ones that were caller were often lacking indispensable discourse oregon heavy blacked out. A 119-page papers marked "Grand Jury-NY," apt from 1 of the national enactment trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein successful 2019 oregon Maxwell successful 2021, was wholly blacked out.
Trump's Republican allies seized connected the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were besides photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and adjacent Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But nary of the photos had captions and was nary mentation fixed for wherefore immoderate of them were together.
The meatiest records released truthful acold showed that national prosecutors had what appeared to beryllium a beardown lawsuit against Epstein successful 2007 yet ne'er charged him.
Transcripts of expansive assemblage proceedings, released publically for the archetypal time, included grounds from FBI agents who described interviews they had with respective girls and young women who described being paid to execute enactment acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and successful ninth grade.
One had told investigators astir being sexually assaulted by Epstein erstwhile she initially resisted his advances during a massage.
Another, past 21, testified earlier the expansive assemblage astir however Epstein had hired her erstwhile she was 16 to execute a intersexual massage and however she had gone connected to enlistee different girls to bash the same.
"For each miss that I brought to the array helium would springiness maine $200," she said. They were mostly radical she knew from precocious school, she said. "I besides told them that if they are nether age, conscionable prevarication astir it and archer him that you are 18."
The documents besides incorporate a transcript of an interrogation Justice Department lawyers did much than a decennary aboriginal with the U.S. lawyer who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, astir his eventual determination not to bring national charges.
Acosta, who was labour caput during Trump's archetypal term, cited concerns astir whether a assemblage would judge Epstein's accusers.
He besides said the Justice Department mightiness person been much reluctant to marque a national prosecution retired of a lawsuit that straddled the ineligible borderline betwixt enactment trafficking and soliciting prostitution, thing much commonly handled by authorities prosecutors.
"I'm not saying it was the close view," Acosta added. He besides said that the nationalist contiguous would apt presumption the survivors differently.
"There's been a batch of changes successful unfortunate shaming," Acosta said.
Jennifer Freeman, an lawyer representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and different survivors, said Saturday that her lawsuit feels vindicated aft the papers release. Farmer sought for years documents backing up her assertion that Epstein and Maxwell were successful possession of kid intersexual maltreatment images.
"It's a triumph and a tragedy," she said. "It looks similar the authorities did perfectly nothing. Horrible things person happened and if they investigated successful adjacent the smallest way, they could person stopped him."
___
Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Kristin M. Hall, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.
The video successful the subordinate supra is from a erstwhile report.
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
