Democrats have accused the Justice Department of removing a photograph of US President Donald Trump from the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files. The image is labelled as file 468 and reportedly shows Trump with a woman in revealing clothes.Democrats on the House Oversight Committee posted on X: “This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release.” The Committee then questioned the US attorney general: “[Attorney General Pam Bondi] is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”Democrats demanded answers about the missing file 468 and questioned what else might have been withheld. “What else is being covered up?” they asked on X. The file reportedly showed a desk drawer filled with photo albums and documents. Among them was a photograph of a man who appeared to be Trump, dressed in a white shirt, standing with a group of women, including at least one in a bikini. Behind the image was another partially obscured photo showing Trump, Melania Trump, and Epstein’s closest associate Ghislaine Maxwell. This photograph is presumed to have been taken at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000, before Trump and Melania were married.However, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Independent that: “The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history.” She ensured that the GOP government has done more for the victims than previous administrations: “By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have.”Many of the photos in the Epstein files were released without dates or context. Inclusion in the files does not simply imply wrongdoing or criminal affiliation. Democrats also accused the DOJ of failing to release all documents by the legal deadline (30 days after the president’s signature) and heavily redacting material.The DOJ said the files were released partially to protect victims’ privacy, and additional documents are expected in the coming weeks. Technical issues also affected access and the DOJ website crashed multiple times as thousands of users flooded the government website. The Epstein files include a wide array of materials, such as legal documents, photos, and paperwork, featuring Epstein with high-profile figures including Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, and others.Trump has said that he ended his relations with Epstein in the early 2000s ad insisted he had no involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and described the pedophile as someone he only “knew socially.”
