This birthday card was published with many other photos on December 19, 2025.Image: doj
December 21, 2025, 6:23 p.mDecember 21, 2025, 6:23 p.m
According to the US Department of Justice, the sudden deletion of more than a dozen files from the Epstein files published online was carried out at the request of those affected. The removed photos showed potential victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who had not previously been identified as such, Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News. The files were therefore deleted in light of ongoing investigations. Blanche announced that they would be open to the public again – he did not give a date.
Pages from a fully redacted New York grand jury file on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell released by the US Department of Justice.Image: keystone
On Friday afternoon, after massive pressure from the public, the Ministry of Justice initially uploaded four data sets containing thousands of files to its website. In addition to photos, there were also documents. A lot of things are completely blacked out – the ministry has already received criticism for this. Less than 24 hours later, Democrats in the US Congress accused the ministry of deleting a file. A photo appears to have been removed, according to a post on X.
Clinton and Trump
Partially framed photos can be seen in the photo in question. One of the photos is older and shows today’s US President Donald Trump with his wife Melania, accompanied by Epstein and his long-time confidante Ghislaine Maxwell. Former US President Bill Clinton can be seen in another picture. Blanche called the accusation that Trump could be seen in the photo and that it had therefore been deleted from the data set “laughable”.
In an Epstein photo, Donald Trump can be seen surrounded by women, some of whom are wearing flower wreaths around their necks. Their faces are unrecognizable.Image: House Oversight Democrats
In an interview with NBC News, he also said that no information about President Trump had been edited in the files – except when it had to be blacked out due to legal requirements. This is the case, for example, when information relates to personal details of abuse victims or is subject to attorney-client privilege.
A sample from the German Press Agency showed that a newer version of the first data set from Saturday contained at least 16 fewer files than a previous version of the archive from Friday afternoon. In addition to the photo that Democrats say is missing, the newer version also no longer includes certain shots of a room with a massage table. (sda/dpa/val)