Images removed from Epstein files less than a day after being posted

At least 16 files have disappeared from the US Department of Justice's public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.

The missing files, which were available on Friday, local time, and no longer accessible the following day, included images of paintings depicting nude women and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers.

In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Mr Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Similar images of the credenza with the drawer closed are still online.

The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Online, the unexplained missing files fuelled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: "What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public."

The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department's much-anticipated document release.

The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein's crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.

Scant new insight in the initial disclosures

Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department's initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.

Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

The gaps go further.

The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain's former prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinised, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability.

Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department's decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.

The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein's homes in New York City and the US Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.

There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former president Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Mr Trump. 

Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. 

Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. 

It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors' names and other identifying information. 

The department has not given any indication of when more records might arrive.

That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to pass the law that forced the department to act. 

Instead of marking the end of a years-long battle for transparency, the document release on Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein's crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.

"I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us," said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.