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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed that the newly released files related to late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein suddenly disappearing from the U.S. Department of Justice's website "has nothing to do with President [Donald] Trump," rather came at the request of victim advocacy groups during an appearance on NBC News' Meet the Press Sunday (December 21).
Blanche, who represented Trump in his New York City criminal trial and was nominated as his deputy attorney general following his presidential election victory in November 2024, claimed that the evidence released included un-redacted pictures of women, which he said "will go back up" after the Justice Department officials investigate whether to make additional redactions. A total 15 images initially shared on the Justice Department's website as part of the Epstein files' Friday (December 19) release were suddenly removed on Saturday (December 20).
One of the files showed a photo of a tabletop holding framed photos of Epstein with famous people, which included an open drawer with printed photos of Trump and women in bathing suits.
"We don’t have perfect information," Blanche said on Sunday. "And so when, when we hear from victims-rights groups about this type of photograph, we pull it down and investigate. We’re still investigating that photo. The photo will go back up, and the only question is whether there will be redactions on the photo."
Blanche also responded to criticism that he and others from the Trump-appointed Justice Department faced for not releasing the complete Epstein files by Friday, which served as the deadline for the document release in adherence with the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump last month.
"The reason why we are still reviewing documents and still continuing our process is simply that to protect victims," Blanche said.
"We’re going through a very methodical process with hundreds of lawyers looking at every single document and making sure that victims’ names and any of the information from victims is protected and redacted, which is exactly what the [Epstein Files] Transparency Act expects," he added.
Trump announced he signed a bill to compel the U.S. Justice Department to release files related to Epstein in a post shared on his Truth Social account on November 19 amid public scrutiny for his past relationship with the convicted pedophile. Trump's lengthy post attempted to tie Epstein to the Democrats, days after publicly urging Republicans to vote in favor of the release of the full Justice Department files related to Epstein, changing his previous stance on the files being released.
The president had called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein's ties to prominent Democratic officials and banks like JP Morgan days after his own name was mentioned in emails sent by the late convicted pedophile.
"We have released over 33,000 Epstein documents to the Hill, and we will continue to follow the law and to have maximum transparency. Also, we will always encourage all victims to come forward," Bondi said at a November news conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and others on an unrelated issue via ABC News.