The controversy over documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case in America has deepened. The US Department of Justice has again made public the photo in which US President Donald Trump is seen. The photo was suddenly removed from the latest batch of the Epstein files, sparking massive political and social media outrage. The photo that was removed was part of a document, which shows Jeffrey Epstein’s desk.
There were two pictures in the same frame. In one picture, Trump is seen standing with several women, while in the second picture, Trump is seen with his wife Melania, Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein himself. The same document also included photos of Epstein with former US President Bill Clinton and even Pope John Paul II.
Why was the photo removed?
The Department of Justice (DoJ) clarified that the Southern District of New York had flagged the photo for review to ‘protect the identity of the victims’. On this basis the picture was temporarily removed. The DoJ issued a statement on social media platform After this the picture was uploaded again without any changes or redactions.
Controversy did not stop even after cleaning
However, this clarification could not calm the controversy. Democrat lawmakers made serious allegations against the DoJ and the Trump administration. He says that this step is against the spirit and intention of the law, under which all the documents related to Epstein were to be made public. Democratic MP Jamie Raskin said in a CNN program that this entire matter looks like a ‘cover-up’. According to him, information related to Trump or people close to him is being deliberately prevented from becoming public.
Interestingly, Republican MP Thomas Macy was also seen standing with the Democrats on this issue. He said that both the ‘spirit and letter’ of the law are being violated and unless the victims are satisfied, he too will not be satisfied. Massey also alleged that a key indictment containing 60 charges has not yet been made public and things are being selectively concealed.
DoJ again gave clarification
Amidst this growing controversy, Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanch clarified that only those parts of the documents are being blackened, which the law allows. He says that the name of any politician or influential person has not been removed deliberately, unless he himself is a victim. DoJ reiterated that there is no agenda to hide the names of politicians.
What came to light regarding Trump?
According to an initial review by The New York Times, Trump’s name appears in very few places in the Epstein files. However, it is also true that Trump and Epstein were in close social relations in the 1990s, and Trump’s initial reluctance to release the files deepened suspicions.
