Democrats say Justice Department removed material from Epstein files
Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee accused the Justice Department of removing files from the newly released Epstein dataset, citing missing photographs including one showing Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
- Americas
- DPA
- Published Date: 06:55 | 21 December 2025
Less than 24 hours after the first release of the Epstein files, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee accused the US Department of Justice of removing material from a dataset published as part of the disclosure.
The committee said in a post on X that a photograph appeared to have been removed from a set of files available for download on the department's website.
The image in question shows several framed photographs. One older picture depicts US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania alongside the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Former US president Bill Clinton appears in another image.
The US Department of Justice initially declined to comment on the allegation.
A spot check by dpa found that a newer version of the first dataset available on Saturday contained at least 16 fewer files than an earlier version of the archive from Friday afternoon.
In addition to the photograph cited by Democrats, certain images of a room containing a massage table were also no longer included in the newer version.
A White House spokeswoman said on Friday evening that the current US administration was the "most transparent" in the country's history following the release of thousands of files.