President Donald Trump has criticized the release of thousands of documents from cases against Jeffrey Epstein, warning they could “ruin the reputation” of high-profile figures who were “innocently” photographed alongside the convicted sex offender and “deflect” from his administration’s accomplishments.
In his first public remarks since the Department of Justice started to publish thousands of images and heavily redacted materials, the president said the release of images of former President Bill Clinton and others photographed with Epstein is a “terrible thing.”
“You probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago,” Trump said from his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. “A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein, but they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruin the reputation of somebody.”
Growing pressure from members of Congress to release the long-awaited files is merely an attempt to “deflect from the tremendous success” of the Republican Party and the Trump administration, and Republican lawmakers who support the disclosures are “being used,” the president told reporters.
The Justice Department failed release all of the files related to Epstein’s cases in its possession despite federal law — signed by Trump — requiring his administration to publicly disclose everything it has by last Friday, December 19.
An initial round of long-awaited documents included a vast library of salacious images and photographs of high-profile figures with Epstein, but they failed to advance the public’s understanding of the scope of his crimes and connections to an alleged sex trafficking ring accused of exploiting and abusing young girls.
There were heavy redactions, including dozens of pages of grand jury testimony and previously sealed court filings that were nearly entirely blacked out.
The first batch of files appeared to prominently feature photographs of former President Bill Clinton with Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, which the White House immediately pounced on.
“I like Bill Clinton. I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton. I’ve been nice to him. He’s been nice to me. We’ve always gotten along. I respect him. I hate to see photos come out of him, but this is what the Democrats, mostly Democrats, and a couple of bad Republicans are asking for,” Trump said Monday. “There’s even photos of me, too.”
Trump has continued to downplay his connections to Epstein despite a years-long relationship that fell apart in the 2000s. The president has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and one’s inclusion in the documents does not imply otherwise.
A spokesperson for Clinton accused the administration of using “selective releases to imply wrongdoing” and called on the Justice Department to “immediately release any remaining materials” from the Epstein files “referring to, mentioning or containing a photograph of” the former president.
“Someone or something is protected,” Clinton’s deputy chief of staff Angel Ureña said Monday. “We do not know whom, what or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection.”
Hours after the initial release of documents, the Justice Department removed more than 20 files — including an image that showed a photograph of Trump with bikini-clad women was sitting in an open drawer.
Those images were later restored, but their removal only fueled outrage and demand for the full release of the files, with threats of legal action from members of Congress.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department was scrambling to make necessary redactions to protect survivors.
“You’re talking about a million or so pages of documents — virtually all of them contain victim information,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday.
He said officials were not removing any mentions of Trump in the documents, more of which are expected to be rolled out over the coming weeks.
“We are not redacting information around President Trump,” Blanche said.
After the Justice Department restored the image of Trump taken from Epstein’s credenza, the agency said in a statement that “there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph, and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction.”
Missing from the documents are bank records that could shed light on the allegedly vast financial engine supporting Epstein and his crimes, as well as internal memos and other documents from prosecutors who investigated him and others.
The law requires the release of potentially thousands of documents that are typically shielded from public view, including grand jury testimony, settlements, investigative notes and internal records related to Epstein and Maxwell.
It also requires the release of documents related to Epstein’s jailhouse death in 2019, which was ruled a suicide. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
More than a dozen survivors of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s abuse have criticized the administration’s partial release of the files, which were “riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation.”
“At the same time, numerous victim identities were left unredacted, causing real and immediate harm,” they wrote Monday.
“While clearer communication would not change the fact that a law was broken, its absence suggests an ongoing intent to keep survivors and the public in the dark as much as possible and as long as possible,” they wrote.
Members of Congress have suggested Attorney General Pam Bondi could be held in contempt for failing to release documents on deadline.
Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, the Democratic and Republican lawmakers behind legislation compelling the release, “are talking about and drafting that right now,” Khanna told CBS Face the Nation Sunday.
“The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way, to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi,” Massie added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will also introduce a resolution next month to “initiate legal actions” against the Trump administration for “illegally refusing to release the full complete files” and “heavily redacting” others, his office said.
