Overview
- In his first remarks since the disclosure, President Trump said newly posted photos could unfairly ruin reputations and argued the push for releases is meant to distract from his agenda.
- The Justice Department missed the Dec. 19 deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act and began a rolling release that advocates say is heavily redacted and incomplete.
- After briefly removing more than a dozen images, including a desk photo featuring pictures of Trump, the department restored them and said the takedown was to protect potential victims.
- Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended redactions as necessary to safeguard survivors and said the department is not scrubbing references to Trump.
- Eighteen survivors said the partial release makes it difficult to find their case materials and flagged abnormal redactions and exposed identities, while Bill Clinton’s spokesperson demanded immediate publication of all Clinton-related records and bipartisan lawmakers threatened contempt proceedings over noncompliance.