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Victims, lawmakers criticize partial release of Epstein files

Posted By: Tarun Kumar Posted On: Dec 21, 2025Share Article
Victims, lawmakers criticize partial release of Epstein files
Ghislaine Maxwell poses in an undated photograph outside the British Prime Minister's residence of 10 Downing Street in London, Britain in this image released

Victims, lawmakers criticize partial release of Epstein files

Victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday (December 20, 2025) expressed anger after a long-awaited cache of records from cases against him were released with many pages blacked out and photos censored.

The trove of material released by the U.S. Justice Department included photographs of former president Bill Clinton and other famous names in Epstein's social circle including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.

But blackouts of many of the documents — combined with control over the release by officials in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration — fueled allegations of a high-level cover-up.

Democrats on Saturday (December 20) demanded answers after one image that included a photo of Mr. Trump was no longer visible in the Justice Department's online release.

“If they're taking this down, just imagine how much more they're trying to hide,” said senior Democrat Chuck Schumer. “This could be one of the biggest cover ups in American history.”

U.S. media reported over a dozen other images being removed from the trove of files.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement late Saturday (Decmber 20) defending its decision to retract files after their release.

Photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information. https://t.co/xXngYQ4Qaw

“Photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information,” read the statement posted to X.

Among scores of blacked-out sections, one 119-page document labeled “Grand Jury-NY” was entirely redacted.

One Epstein survivor, Jess Michaels, said she spent hours combing the documents to find her victim's statement and communication from when she had called an FBI tip line.

“I can't find any of those,” she told CNN. “Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn't getting us justice.”

Even so, the files shed some light on the disgraced financier's intimate ties to the rich, famous and powerful — Mr. Trump, once a close friend, among them.

At least one file contains dozens of censored images of naked or scantily clad figures. 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.

Victim privacy

When Mr. Trump's aides goaded Clinton over the photos, his spokesman responded that the White House “hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday (December 19) to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves.”

Among the paperwork were handwritten notes using phrases such as “I have a female for him” and “[redacted] has girl for tonight.”

Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has long pushed for complete release of the files, said the release “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law.”

That law required the government's case file to be posted publicly by Friday (December 19), constrained only by legal and victim privacy concerns.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC that there was no attempt “to hold anything back” to protect Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump spent months trying 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 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.

Mr. 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'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.

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.

Published - December 21, 2025 12:10 pm IST

Donald Trump / USA / judiciary (system of justice) / crime, law and justice

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