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Files relating to allegations of sexual abuse committed by President Donald Trump are being withheld or removed from the public database of files compiled by the Department of Justice (DOJ) relating to Jeffrey Epstein.
Some of these files are related to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor. They include over 50 pages of an FBI interview with a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor decades ago.
According to reporting from NPR, the DOJ is withholding those files and others that feature Trump’s name from the searchable database of the Epstein files.
Some files were removed from the database and put back online last week. However, others were taken out and have yet to be returned. Many others were never shared with the public to begin with, according to NPR’s analysis of serial numbers on the files.
Files that were removed from the public database include a separate interview from a woman who testified in the criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator. Maxwell is currently seeking a clemency order from Trump.
Asked by NPR why the DOJ took files out of the database while others seem to be missing from it altogether, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson largely ignored the question and claimed “Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”
Jackson also alleged that Trump, who used to be close friends with Epstein, has been “totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein.” However, Trump hasn’t faced any criminal or civil charges emanating from the Epstein saga, meaning he has nothing to claim exoneration from as of yet.
Trump has politically benefited from the Epstein files. During his presidential campaign, he capitalized on conspiracy theories related to Epstein popular amongst his base, and told his followers he was open to making the files public.
Since returning to office, however, Trump has reneged on that promise. In fact, he has repeatedly claimed that the files are a political “hoax” against him, and has tried to downplay their significance to the victims and the American people overall.
The president only relented on releasing the files after it became clear that a bill requiring the release of the files would pass, in December. Even after releasing files, of which the administration has only released a fraction, he has sought to push the issue to the side and attacked people for daring to want to discuss it further.
“I think it’s really time for the country to get on to something else,” Trump told reporters earlier this month.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, both former personal lawyers for Trump, asserted that no records were being withheld or redacted “on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.” This assertion was made in a letter to Congress on February 14.
Redactions, removals, or withholding of files based on ruining a person’s reputation is explicitly forbidden within the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by Trump.
There are likely more files that have been kept from the public that include Trump’s name in them. According to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), who had access to the unredacted files earlier this month, Trump’s name appears “more than a million times.”
That assertion, coupled with the fact that the DOJ has made it onerous for lawmakers to search the files, is “what a cover up looks like,” Raskin also said.
The NPR report is hardly the news Trump wants to see on Tuesday as he readies himself for a primetime State of the Union Address in the evening. Several polls already show Trump is dealing with some of the worst approval ratings he’s ever had, including a 63 percent disapproval rating from a recently published CNN/SSRS poll.
A newly published Data for Progress poll also finds that most voters, 55 percent, believe that Trump is being dishonest when it comes to the Epstein files. That survey also found that 1 in 2 voters believe Trump should be impeached over his past associations with Epstein and his current handling of the Epstein files.
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