WASHINGTON: US Justice Department officials on Sunday denied redacting the Epstein files to protect President Donald Trump as criticism mounted over the partial and heavily-censored release of documents. Victims of Jeffrey Epstein have expressed anger after a cache of records from cases against the late sex offender were released Friday with many pages blacked out and photos censored. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department and a decision to remove an image of several group photos including at least one showing Trump. &quot;There were concerns about those women and the fact that we had put that photo up,&quot; Blanche, a former personal lawyer to the president, told NBC&#39;s &quot;Meet the Press.&quot; &quot;So we pulled that photo down. It has nothing to do with President Trump.&quot; When asked if any material was redacted to due to political sensitivities -- which would be illegal -- Blanche replied &quot;absolutely,&nbsp;positively&nbsp;not.&quot; Democratic lawmakers on Sunday accused Trump himself of defying a law ordering the release of all files on Epstein, who amassed a fortune and circulated among rich and famous people. &quot;It&#39;s all about covering up things that, for whatever reason, Donald Trump doesn&#39;t want to go public, either about himself (or) other members of his family, friends,&quot; Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin said on CNN&#39;s &quot;State of the Union.&quot; The tranche of materials released Friday included photographs of former president Bill Clinton and other famous names such as pop stars Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. The Justice Department said it was protecting Epstein&#39;s victims with the blackouts.But the many redactions -- and allegations of missing documents -- only added to calls for justice in a case that has fueled conspiracy theories from Trump&#39;s right-wing base. - Republican: &#39;Selective concealment&#39; -Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has long pushed for complete release of the files, on Sunday joined in with the Democrats&#39; demands. &quot;They&#39;re flouting the spirit and the letter of the law. It&#39;s very troubling the posture that they&#39;ve taken. And I won&#39;t be satisfied until the survivors are satisfied,&quot; he told CBS&#39;s &quot;Face The Nation.&quot; A 60-count indictment that implicates well-known people was not released, Massie charged. &quot;It&#39;s about the selective concealment,&quot; he said. Senator Rand Paul, a fellow Republican and frequent critic of Trump, warned during an appearance on ABC&#39;s &quot;This Week&quot; that any material not revealed &quot;will just plague them for months and months more.&quot; Trump tried to block the disclosure of the files linked to Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The president finally bowed to mounting pressure from Congress -- including members of his own party -- and signed the law compelling publication of the material. Trump was once a close friend of Epstein, regularly attending parties together, but he cut ties with him years before his arrest and faces no accusations of wrongdoing. - Accomplice in jail -At least one released file contained dozens of censored images of naked or scantily clad figures, while previously unseen photographs of disgraced former prince Andrew show him lying across the legs of five women. Other pictures show Clinton lounging in a hot tub, part of the image blacked out, and swimming alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein&#39;s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell, Epstein&#39;s former girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes, and is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for the former banker, whose death was ruled a suicide. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, said on &quot;This Week&quot; that justice officials must provide written explanation to Congress within 15 days about why they withheld any documents. &quot;It does appear, of course, that this initial document release is inadequate,&quot; Jeffries said.

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US Justice Department officials denied redacting the Epstein files to protect President Donald Trump as criticism mounted

Trump administration denies cover-up over redacted Epstein files

WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department on Friday began releasing a long-awaited cache of records from its investigations into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein -- though much of the material remained heavily redacted. Among the trove are numerous photographs depicting former Democratic president Bill Clinton and other luminaries, including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, in Epstein&#39;s social circle. The sweeping blackouts across many of the documents -- combined with tight control over the release by officials in President Donald Trump&#39;s administration -- stoked skepticism over whether this disclosure will silence conspiracy theories of a high-level cover-up. In one example, seven pages listing 254 masseuses have every name buried beneath thick black bars alongside the note, &quot;redacted to protect potential victim information.&quot; Even so, the files shed some light on the disgraced financier&#39;s intimate ties to the rich, famous, and powerful -- Trump among them. At least one file contains dozens of censored images of naked or scantily clad figures. Others show Epstein and companions, their faces obscured, posing with firearms. Previously unseen photographs include one of a youthful-looking Clinton lounging in a hot tub, part of the image blacked out by a stark rectangle. In another, Clinton swims alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein&#39;s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. And Maxwell is seen in a separate image with disgraced former prince Andrew, pictured lying across the legs of five people. - A &#39;fraction&#39; of the evidence -The White House wasted no time seizing on Clinton&#39;s appearances. &quot;Slick Willy! @BillClinton just chillin, without a care in the world. Little did he know...&quot; Communications Director Steven Cheung posted on X. But Democrats voiced frustration that the release fell far short of what was mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the new federal law requiring the government&#39;s entire case file be posted publicly by Friday, constrained only by legal and victim privacy concerns. &quot;This set of heavily redacted documents released by the Department of Justice today is just a fraction of the whole body of evidence,&quot; said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. &quot;Simply releasing a mountain of blacked-out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law. For example, all 119 pages of one document were completely blacked out.&quot; Other Democrats in Congress said the government had withheld a draft indictment prepared after the financier&#39;s 2019 arrest, which they say would implicate &quot;other rich and powerful men who were on Epstein&#39;s rape island.&quot; Trump, who once counted his Palm Beach, Florida neighbor as a close friend, spent months trying to block the disclosure of the files on Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The Republican president ultimately bowed to mounting pressure from Congress -- including members of his own party -- and last month signed the law compelling publication of the materials by Friday. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said several hundred thousand documents would be published on deadline day, with many more to follow in the coming weeks. Prosecutors retain discretion to withhold material tied to active investigations, and Blanche said files had also been redacted to protect the identities of Epstein&#39;s hundreds of victims. - &#39;Democrat hoax&#39; -Trump once moved in the same Palm Beach and New York party scene as Epstein, appearing with him at events throughout the 1990s. He severed ties years before Epstein&#39;s 2019 arrest and faces no accusations of wrongdoing in the case. But his right-wing base has long fixated on the Epstein saga and conspiracy theories alleging the financier ran a sex trafficking ring for the global elite. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to release all the files. Yet after returning to office, he dismissed the transparency push as a &quot;Democrat hoax.&quot; Trump&#39;s Justice Department ignited a political firestorm in July with a memo declaring there would be no further disclosures from the Epstein probe and his fabled &quot;client list&quot; did not exist. Trump then waged a fight against Congress&#39;s drive to make the records public before relenting. Maxwell, Epstein&#39;s former girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes and is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for the former teacher and banker, whose death was ruled a suicide.

The US Justice Department began releasing Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, featuring famous names and photographs, but heavy redactions sparked criticism and doubts over transparency, fueling political tensions and renewed conspiracy theories surrounding the case

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Trump administration denies cover-up over redacted Epstein files

Epstein files opened: famous faces, many blacked-out pages