Epstein affair | Criticism of the management of the file multiplies, the Trump administration defends itself

(Washington) The US Department of Justice defended itself on Sunday from censoring information relating to President Donald Trump in the thorny Epstein case, at a time when criticism is increasing over its partial and largely redacted publication of the investigation documents.

“We are not redacting information concerning President Trump” from published or future files, assured the department’s number two, Todd Blanche, in an interview with NBC.

This former personal lawyer of Donald Trump responded to criticism from elected officials on both sides and victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a New York financier and sex criminal who died in prison in 2019, around the publication of this sprawling file.

After months of delay, the department began Friday to make public thousands of photos, videos and texts on this man accused of having sexually exploited more than 1,000 young women, including minors, and known for having frequented prominent personalities, including the current president and his distant Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton.

Read the article “What the new documents don’t show”

However, the entire file was not made public that day as provided for by the law at the origin of this transparency effort, and many files were largely redacted, like a document completely blacked out on 119 pages.

Deleted photos

Several published photos were deleted on Saturday, sparking opposition.

One of the images removed from the department’s website showed various photos arranged on a piece of furniture and in a drawer, at least one of which was with the Republican president.

“All of this aims to hide things that, for one reason or another, Donald Trump does not want to make public,” Democratic elected official Jamie Raskin blasted Sunday on CNN.

Asked about this image, the head of the department assured that it was not a maneuver to protect the president.

“We learned after this photograph was published that there were concerns” about women in the photo “and so we removed it. This has nothing to do with President Trump,” assured Todd Blanche.

Once close to the financier with whom he moved in the same circles, the Republican billionaire has always denied having any knowledge of his criminal behavior and claims to have cut ties before he was brought to justice.

Since the publication of these documents on Friday, he has refrained from commenting.

Conspiracy theories

While he said during his 2024 campaign that he agreed to make these files public, Donald Trump then did an about-face, speaking of a “hoax” used by the Democrats.

He finally gave in to pressure from Congress and his electoral base, obsessed by this scandal.

Several conservative elected officials critical of his handling of the affair ordered him on Sunday to publish the rest of the documents in the case.

“Any evidence or clue suggesting that everything has not been brought to light will continue to torment (the government) for months and months,” said Republican senator Rand Paul on ABC, while elected official Thomas Massie, very involved on the subject, deplored the lack of publication of crucial legal documents.

For the moment it is “a slap in the face for the victims” who “want to know who are the rich and powerful men who visited” the financier’s island, at the heart of the accusations of sexual exploitation, “and who covered up” these crimes, insisted on CBS Mr. Massie, one of the elected officials behind the law forcing the government to disclose this file.

Revealed in 2019, the Epstein affair has hit a number of American and foreign celebrities, including Andrew, brother of King Charles III, incriminated by one of the victims, but who proclaims his innocence.

The New Yorker’s death in prison that same year, a suicide authorities said, fueled countless conspiracy theories that he was murdered to prevent him from implicating elites.