The Department of Justice has republished an image featuring Donald Trump that was initially released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday but was then quietly deleted.
The DOJ’s release of heavily redacted documents on the convicted sex trafficker included a photo of Epstein’s desk scattered with pictures, including two appearing to feature Trump.
But the photo of the desk was then quietly removed with no explanation or notice to the public, sparking outrage among Democrats and social media users, who alleged a cover-up effort to redact Trump from the files.
On Sunday afternoon, the DOJ announced that it had reposted the photo “without any alteration or redaction.”
“The Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims,” said the department’s X post, which included a link to the photo.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the image for further review. After the review, it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph, and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction.”
The reposted photo of Epstein’s desk features an infamous picture of Trump smiling with then-girlfriend Melania, Epstein, and Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, at an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort buried in a drawer.
Another image in the drawer shows a man, who appears to be Trump, standing surrounded by women, one of whom appears to be in a bathing suit, according to NBC News.
Earlier on Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked by NBC News’s Kristen Welker why the photos featuring Trump had been taken down.
“You can see in that photo, there’s photographs of women,” Blanche said.
“And so we learned after releasing that photograph that there were concerns about those women and the fact that we had put that photo up. So we pulled that photo down. It has nothing to do with President Trump. There are dozens of photos of President Trump already released to the public seeing him with Mr. Epstein. He has said that in the ’90s and early 2000s he socialized with him. So the absurdity of us pulling down a photo, a single photo, because President Trump was in it, is laughable.”
Welker was quick to question whether that would suggest any of the women featured beside Trump in the photo were victims of the Epstein sex trafficking conspiracy.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” Blanche backtracked.
The photo featuring Trump was one of at least 16 files related to Epstein that the DOJ posted on Friday before deleting them. It’s unclear whether the other files have been restored as well.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
In a “fact sheet” posted on X, the DOJ—calling itself the “Trump Department of Justice”—addressed the question, “Why have some photos been released and then removed?”
“As material is released, the Department of Justice has received incoming from individuals alleging to be victims and their lawyers, requesting that certain information be removed,” the DOJ said. “Out of an abundance of caution, the material is temporarily removed for review and will be released again with appropriate redactions if legally required.”
After facing intense scrutiny of his own relationship with Epstein, Trump signed a bipartisan law in November mandating the release of all remaining documents on the case.
The deadline for releasing those documents passed on Friday. As of Sunday, the DOJ has released only 3,900 files—a small fraction of the total number believed to be in its possession.
When reached for comment, the White House referred the Daily Beast to the DOJ.
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