Pictures of Donald Trump were included among at least 16 documents that disappeared from the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Democrats from the House Oversight Committee drew attention to the apparent removal of an image showing two printed pictures of Mr Trump in a desk draw.
One picture had Mr Trump standing surrounded by women in bathing suits, while the second appears to be an already known picture – partly obscured – of him, his wife Melania, Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
After the Democrats flagged the missing image on Saturday, Sky News went back to the files online and confirmed that it did appear to be missing, despite the fact they downloaded it when the files were initially released on Friday.
The other photos removed from the trove of documents were almost all nude paintings of women in Epstein’s home.
In a post on X on Sunday, the DOJ said the image including pictures of Mr Trump has since been reposted on to the Epstein Files page.
Sky News has seen that file number 468 is once again listed online. Mr Trump is still visible in the latest version of the image, and there is no immediate difference from the original upload.
The DOJ said that “the Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims”.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the image for further review,” the department added.
“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.”
Mr Trump has not commented on the release of the files and has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s case.
Questions over heavy redactions
Thousands of documents relating to the dead paedophile financier were made public by the DOJ on Friday – hours before a legal deadline following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Many of the pages were either partially or fully redacted, which the DOJ says is to protect the more than 1,200 victims and their families identified in them.
Some of Epstein’s victims, legal experts and members of the public have questioned whether this is the sole reason for the redactions, while the Oversight Democrats have claimed: “This is a White House cover-up.”
Ashley Rubright, who was abused for several years after meeting Epstein in Palm Beach when she was 15, told Sky News: “Seeing […] completely redacted pages, there’s no way that that’s just to protect the victims’ identities, and there better be a good reason. I just don’t know if we’ll ever know what that is.”
Gloria Allred, a lawyer who has represented some of Epstein’s victims, says she has been told that despite the heavy redactions, some compromising pictures of survivors and their names were left in the files released on Friday.
“We have had to notify the Department of Justice about names that should have been redacted that weren’t redacted,” she told Sky News.
“So this is further trauma to survivors, and apparently also some of the images of some of the survivors appear not to have been redacted, and they are nude or not completely dressed.
“This is a major concern because the law clearly indicates, and the judges have indicated, that the names and any identifying information of the survivors must be redacted.”
Read more:
Epstein victims react to partial release of files
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In a letter to the judges overseeing the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases, US attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton acknowledged that a review “of this size and scope is vulnerable to machine error [or] instances of human error”.
He also said the DOJ had opted to redact the faces of women in photographs with Epstein “even where not all the women are known to be victims,” as it was not viewed as practical for the DOJ to identify every person in all the photos.
The methodology has led to some confusion and misled speculation online.
Many celebrities and public figures appear with Epstein in the photos published by the DOJ, often included without context.
There is no suggestion that these pictures imply anyone has done anything wrong, and many of those featured in them have denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
Through its release, the Trump administration has claimed to be the most transparent in history, despite the fact Congress forced their hand by voting to make the files public by 19 December.
But some have been held back, with Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general and a former personal lawyer for Donald Trump, saying more would follow in the coming weeks.
Many Democrats and some Republicans have criticised the partial release as failing to “comply with law,” as have lawyers including Ms Allred.
“So clearly, the law has been violated. And it’s the Department of Justice letting down the survivors once again,” she said.
She labelled the incomplete release of the files a “distraction”, adding: “This is not over, and it won’t be over until we get the truth and transparency for the survivors.”
