By Imran Vittachi for AFP
A photo of President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is unfurled on the National Mall near the US Capitol. Photo: AFP / HEATHER DIEHL
US Justice Department officials have denied redacting the Epstein files to protect President Donald Trump, as criticism mounts 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 release by the Justice Department, telling NBC's Meet the Press that "we are not redacting information around President Trump".
When asked if any material was redacted to due to political sensitivities -- which would be illegal -- Blanche replied "absolutely, positively not."
The decision to remove an image of several group photos, including at least one showing Trump, had been taken over "concerns about those women," said Blanche, a former personal lawyer to the president.
The Justice Department on Sunday reposted the photo "without any alteration or redaction" after a review determined "there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted."
Democratic lawmakers 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.
"It's all about covering up things that, for whatever reason, Donald Trump doesn't want to go public, either about himself (or) other members of his family, friends," Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
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'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's right-wing base.
'Selective concealment'
Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has long pushed for complete release of the files, on Sunday joined in with the Democrats' demands.
"They're flouting the spirit and the letter of the law. It's very troubling the posture that they've taken. And I won't be satisfied until the survivors are satisfied," he told CBS's Face The Nation.
A 60-count indictment that implicates well-known people was not released, Massie charged. "It's about the selective concealment," he said.
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's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell, Epstein'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 ABC's This Week that justice officials must provide written explanation to Congress within 15 days about why they withheld any documents.
"It does appear, of course, that this initial document release is inadequate," Jeffries said.
- AFP
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