The administration of President Donald Trump is under fire over allegations that it deleted key content while releasing investigative records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The political fallout is widening after it emerged that certain records, including photos featuring President Trump, were omitted, with lawmakers from both parties moving to pursue contempt of Congress charges against Minister Pam Bondi.
According to the Washington Post (WP) and CBS on the 21st local time, the Donald Trump administration was required to fully release related investigative records by the 19th under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which took effect in November. However, it missed the court-ordered disclosure deadline and is being criticized for allegedly deleting parts of the records intentionally. The Justice Department has posted about 100,000 pages on its website so far, but at least 16 records, including photos showing President Trump, were confirmed to have been deleted.
At the core of the controversy are fairness and transparency in disclosure. The Justice Department applied a strict standard and deleted materials related to President Trump, while releasing multiple photos of former Democratic President Bill Clinton with women. Democrats are calling this a partisan move by the department and pushing back strongly. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in an interview with ABC that a complete and thorough investigation is needed into why the department's document production fell short of what the law clearly required.
Criticism is also emerging within the ruling Republican Party. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who co-sponsored the bill, said on CBS's Face the Nation, The Justice Department is blatantly ignoring the spirit and the letter of the law, and added that he is reviewing applying contempt of Congress against Attorney General Pam Bondi with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. Massie added that the department's move insults the victims.
The Justice Department moved quickly to contain the fallout. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an NBC interview that it does not take congressional threats seriously, taking a hard line. The department said it needs more time for victim protection and redaction of personal information and plans to release hundreds of thousands more files over the coming weeks. But the prevailing view is that the released materials lack key information that could aid new fact-finding beyond what the public already knows.
The issue could prove a painful misstep for President Trump. During the election, he rallied his base by claiming that entrenched interests were behind the Epstein case. But after returning to power, his tepid stance on disclosure has fueled doubts even within the core "MAGA" base. Republican Sen. Rand Paul warned that if full disclosure does not happen, the issue will dog the administration for months.
According to the weekly magazine Time, Epstein was reported to the FBI as early as 1996 on suspicion of child sexual exploitation. It has also been widely known that President Trump socialized with Epstein into the early 2000s. While no evidence has surfaced that directly ties President Trump to the crimes, experts said that the longer the administration's selective release of records continues, the more intense the political attacks and suspicions directed at him will become.