Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Jeffrey Epstein files removed from the Department of Justice’s website Saturday have “nothing to do” with President Donald Trump.
“There are dozens of photos of President Trump already released to the public, seeing him with Mr. Epstein,” Blanche said Sunday on “Meet The Press.”
He continued: “The absurdity of us pulling down a single photo because President Trump was in it is laughable,” he said. “And the fact that everybody’s trying to act like that’s the case is a reflection of their true motivation.”
On Saturday, at least 16 files related to the Epstein case disappeared from the Justice Department’s website after they were uploaded the day before. One of the photos in the files that was removed was a photo of a drawer full of photos, including a photo of Trump, alongside Melania Trump, Epstein, and Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Blanche said that photo was removed because “a judge in New York” instructed the Justice Department to listen to any victim or victims’ rights group if they have concerns about something in the files, and if they reach out and ask for the photos to be taken down, then the Justice Department will oblige. He added that he doesn’t have “perfect information” and doesn’t know for sure if anyone in the photo was a victim of Epstein.
He also said the files will eventually be put back on the department’s website.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“There is nothing that [Trump] has to hide in the Epstein files,” Blanche said. “There never was. And even though there’s repeated attempts by Democrats to paint him as being part of the Epstein saga, it’s failing over and over again.”
Congress ordered the Justice Department to release all files related to the Epstein case by Friday, but the department said because of the time-consuming nature of redacting victims’ names and other information, they plan to release the files in an ongoing process. The files that they did release Friday offered very little new information about the disgraced financier, who killed himself in 2019 awaiting his sex trafficking trial.
Democrats have been vocal about what they believe is Trump and the White House trying to cover up any mention of Trump in the Epstein files.
In a reference to the photo that was removed from the DOJ’s website, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) wrote on social media Saturday, “Trump and his lackeys have proven one thing – they’re absolutely committed to the coverup.”