At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, including a photograph showing US President Donald Trump – less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.
The missing files, which were available on Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers.
In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
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The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Online, the unexplained missing files fuelled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him.
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Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on social media, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”