Photos from Epstein files 'disappear' from US Justice Dept website, including photo with Trump in it

Just a day after their release, several photos have gone missing from the Trump administration’s Epstein file release.

Amongst them is a photograph of a cabinet filled with framed photos, and an open drawer showing more pictures in it.

According to the New York Times (NYT) and the Huffington Post, the pictures within the photograph appear to show U.S. president Donald Trump posing with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Missing pictures

NYT reported that at least 16 photos were taken down on Dec. 20, a day after the Trump administration released about 13,000 documents, including pictures and investigation documents, but still a fraction of the total files related to Epstein.

However, those awaiting the release of the files were disappointed, with many files being partially or, in some cases, entirely redacted.

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But even when pictures or documents were released, it appears the Trump administration may have had second thoughts and retracted some.

The Huffington Post reported that they reviewed the documents upon release on Dec. 19 and returned to review them again on Dec. 20.

The files had been released onto a site by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Huffington Post noticed that a file, EFTA0000468, was no longer available, with files going from “467” to “469”.

Credenza credentials

This was also noticed by the opposition Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in the House of Representatives, who posted on social media asking Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi: “Is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

In addition, they posted what picture 468 supposedly was.

It showed pictures of the disgraced financier Epstein meeting with various famous people.

In the photograph, the late Pope John Paul II can be seen, as well as what appears to be a picture of former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

But the photograph also showed a picture of Trump, his wife, Melania, Epstein, and Epstein’s former girlfriend and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

It also appeared to show a picture of Trump surrounded by what the Huffington Post called “young female models”.

NYT said that 12 of the other missing photos showed Epstein’s “infamous” massage room in his New York home, where he allegedly assaulted numerous teenage girls.

Added little

Trump and his administration have yet to comment on the incident or the files themselves.

Instead, they released a second tranche of files on Dec. 20, which NYT described as never-before-released transcripts of Grand Jury proceedings that 'added little to what has already been known about the cases'.

The Trump administration is required to release all of the Epstein files after rare unanimous votes in the houses of Congress.

Trump had been reluctant to release the files before, even threatening Republican politicians who advocated for the release of the files.

This is despite his 2024 presidential campaign repeatedly promising the release of the files.

Opponents of Trump allege that he is heavily implicated in the files and have suggested that this is the reason for his reluctance.

Nonetheless, when it became clear that a vote to release the files would win, Trump threw his support for the release.

But U.S. legislators have rejected the current release as inadequate, with a Democratic member of the oversight committee saying that only 10 per cent of the files would be released, and of that, five per cent would be highly redacted.

Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman who has thus far led the charge for the release of the Epstein files, was said to have talked to a Democratic counterpart about filing impeachment charges against Bondi for her handling of the case, as reported by the Post.

Top image via @OversightDems/X & White House/Facebook