Pictures of Donald Trump are included among at least 16 documents that have disappeared from the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Democrats from the House Oversight Committee drew attention to the apparent removal of an image showing two printed pictures of Mr Trump in a desk draw.

One picture has Mr Trump standing surrounded by women in bathing suits, while the second appears to be an already known picture – partly obscured – of him, his wife Melania, Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.

After the Democrats flagged the missing image on Saturday, Sky News went back to the files online and confirmed that it did appear to be missing, despite the fact they downloaded it when the files were initially released on Friday.

The other photos removed from the trove of documents were almost all nude paintings of women in Epstein’s home.

Mr Trump has not commented on the release of the files and has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s case.

Sky News has contacted the DOJ for comment.

Questions over heavy redactions

Thousands of documents relating to the dead paedophile financier were made public by the DOJ on Friday – hours before a legal deadline following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Many of the pages were either partially or fully redacted, which the DOJ says is to protect the more than 1,200 victims and their families identified in them.

Some of Epstein’s victims, legal experts and members of the public have questioned whether this is the sole reason for the redactions, while the Oversight Democrats have claimed: “This is a White House cover-up.”

Ashley Rubright, who was abused for several years after meeting Epstein in Palm Beach when she was 15, told Sky News: “Seeing […] completely redacted pages, there’s no way that that’s just to protect the victims’ identities, and there better be a good reason. I just don’t know if we’ll ever know what that is.”

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Epstein ‘was a monster’: Survivors speak to Sky News

Gloria Allred, a lawyer who has represented some of Epstein’s victims, says she has been told that despite the heavy redactions, some compromising pictures of survivors and their names were left in the files released on Friday.

“We have had to notify the Department of Justice about names that should have been redacted that weren’t redacted,” she told Sky News.

“So this is further trauma to survivors, and apparently also some of the images of some of the survivors appear not to have been redacted, and they are nude or not completely dressed.

“This is a major concern because the law clearly indicates, and the judges have indicated, that the names and any identifying information of the survivors must be redacted.”

Read more:
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Links between Epstein and the UK revealed in new files

In a letter to the judges overseeing the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases, US attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton acknowledged that a review “of this size and scope is vulnerable to machine error [or] instances of human error”.

He also said the DOJ had opted to redact the faces of women in photographs with Epstein “even where not all the women are known to be victims,” as it was not viewed as practical for the DOJ to identify every person in all the photos.

The methodology has led to some confusion and misled speculation online.

Many celebrities and public figures appear with Epstein in the photos published by the DOJ, often included without context.

There is no suggestion that these pictures imply anyone has done anything wrong, and many of those featured in them have denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

Through its release, the Trump administration has claimed to be the most transparent in history, despite the fact Congress forced their hand by voting to make the files public by 19 December.

But some have been held back, with Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general and a former personal lawyer for Donald Trump, saying more would follow in the coming weeks.

Many Democrats and some Republicans have criticised the partial release as failing to “comply with law,” as have lawyers including Ms Allred.

“So clearly, the law has been violated. And it’s the Department of Justice letting down the survivors once again,” she said.

She labelled the incomplete release of the files a “distraction”, adding: “This is not over, and it won’t be over until we get the truth and transparency for the survivors.”

Several victims of Jeffrey Epstein have told Sky News that the incomplete release of the files relating to the dead paedophile financier have left them feeling shocked, outraged and disappointed.

Thousands of files relating to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, were made public late on Friday – but only a fraction of them have been released so far, with many heavily redacted.

‘Nothing transparent about release’

Marina Lacerda, a Brazilian-born survivor who suffered sexual abuse by Epstein as a teenager, expressed her disappointment over the incomplete release, calling it “a slap in our faces”.

“We were all excited yesterday before the files came out,” she told Sky News presenter Anna Botting.

“And when they did come out, we were just in shock, and we see that there is nothing there that is transparent. So it’s very sad, it’s very disappointing.”

Ms Lacera said she had just turned 14 when she met Epstein before “our relationship, our friendship I should say” ended when she was 17.

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There is nothing transparent about Epstein files release, Marina Lacerda says

“At that point, he had made it very clear to me that I was old, that I was no longer fun for him. So, he booted me out, and I was no longer needed for him,” she said.

Epstein files – latest updates

The Department of Justice (DoJ) suggests that 1,200 victims and their families have effectively been shielded from view in the released documents.

Ms Lacera said: “From what I know, [the number of Epstein victims] is over a thousand, but that’s just what the DoJ can collect or the FBI can collect, but I presume there may be more than that.”

‘No way it’s not a cover-up’

Ashley Rubright met the late sex offender when she was just 15 in Palm Beach and was subject to abuse over several years.

Asked about her dissatisfaction with yesterday’s government release and if there was a sense of a cover-up operation, she noted that there had been knowledge of Epstein’s crimes “for so, so long”.

“There’s no way that there’s not a cover-up – what it is, I don’t know,” she told Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews.

“I just hope that nobody’s allowed to fly under the radar with their involvement.”

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Ashley Rubright says ‘there’s no way there’s not a cover-up’

Regarding the extent of the redactions, she said: “I’m so not shocked, but let down. Disappointed.

“Seeing […] completely redacted pages, there’s no way that that’s just to protect the victims’ identities, and there better be a good reason. I just don’t know if we’ll ever know what that is.

“We’ve been left behind since day one. That’s why I think we’re all fighting so loud now, because we’re tired of it.”

‘He wanted to man-handle me’

Another survivor, Alicia Arden, told Sky News that she met Epstein in a California hotel room in 1997 for an audition, when she was a 25-year-old model and actress.

“He let me in and he started looking over my portfolio, which is customary to do in a talent audition, and then he insinuated, ‘oh, you should come closer to me and let me see your body’,” she said.

Epstein then started “taking off my top and my pants and touching my rear end and my breasts”.

“He goes, ‘let me come over here and spin for me and let me man-handle you. Let me man-handle you.’ And I got very nervous and started to cry. I said, ‘I have to go, Jeffrey. I don’t really think this is gonna work out’,” Ms Arden said.

“He got a phone call and I was crying in front of him. And he said, ‘I have this beautiful girl in front of me and she’s very upset’. I said ‘I’m gonna leave’ and he offered me $100 and I said ‘I’m not a prostitute’.”

She said she went to the Santa Monica Police Department to file a report.

“That was as difficult, and I’m like shaking telling you, but as difficult as being in the hotel room with him because they weren’t supportive at all about it,” she said. Her redacted report was included in previous files.

‘Epstein was a monster’

Asked what she thought about Epstein now, she said: “He’s a monster […] and just horrible. I mean, I’m trembling thinking about him and talking about him.

“If I could do anything, I’m happy I got the police report filed. If they would have pursued him and maybe gone over the hotel [where he was] essentially living, then I could have maybe saved the girls. I’ve always thought that.”

Ms Arden does not believe she has seen justice as one of Epstein’s victims.

“I want to see all of the files come out. I want all of the men in there or women that were trafficking these girls, and they shouldn’t be able to walk around free and not pay for if they did something,” she said.

“They should be actually arrested if they’re in the files and it’s proven that they did horrible things to these girls, and they should lose their jobs, their lives, their homes, their money, and pay for what they did, and it was all supposed to come out, and it hasn’t.”

‘I feel redeemed’ by file release

Maria Farmer, who made a complaint to the Miami FBI in 1996 in which she alleged that Epstein stole and sold photos she had taken of her 12- and 16-year-old sisters, expressed gratitude for the release of the files.

“This is amazing. Thank you for believing me. I feel redeemed. This is one of the best days of my life,” she said in a statement through her lawyers.

“I’m crying for two reasons. I want everyone to know that I am shedding tears of joy for myself, but also tears of sorrow for all the other victims that the FBI failed.”

A positive-leaning reaction also came from Dani Bensky, who said she was sexually abused by Epstein when she was 17 years old.

She told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News: “There is part of me that feels a bit validated at this moment, because I think so many of us have been saying, ‘No, this is real, like, we’re not a hoax’.

“There’s so much information, and yet not as much as we may have wanted to see.”

‘It is not over’

Lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented several Epstein victims, told Sky News about the partial release on Friday: “It’s very disappointing that all of the files were not released yesterday as required and, in fact, mandated by law.

“The law didn’t say they could do this over a period of time, it didn’t say that weeks could go by.”

Deputy attorney general Mr Blanche said additional file disclosures can be expected by the end of the year.

“But that’s not what the law says. So clearly, the law has been violated. And it’s the Department of Justice letting down the survivors once again,” Ms Allred said.

The lawyer labelled the incomplete release of the files a “distraction”, adding: “This is not over, and it won’t be over until we get the truth and transparency for the survivors.”

Read more:
Links between Epstein and UK revealed
Photos of Jeffrey Epstein’s circle among files
Writing on body seen in images released by Democrats
Trump, Clinton, Andrew and others seen in previous release

‘Only redactions required by law’

The tranche of material was released just hours before a legal deadline in the US following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act – and at the same time as a US strike targeting Islamic State fighters in Syria.

The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said the justice department was continuing to review the remaining files and was withholding some documents under exemptions meant to protect the victims.

But Sky News’ James Matthews said the significance of the files “is undermined by the lack of context”, while some Democrats and Republicans criticised the partial release as failing to “comply with law”.

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Epstein files release has become ‘a political football’

Meanwhile, the justice department has defended the redactions made in the released files.

“The only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law – full stop. Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim,” it quoted deputy attorney general Mr Blanche in a post on X.

The Trump administration has claimed to be the most transparent in history.

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In a statement, the White House claimed the release also demonstrated its commitment to justice for Epstein’s victims, criticising previous Democratic administrations for not doing the same.

But that statement ignored that the disclosures only happened because Congress forced the administration’s hand with a bill demanding the release, after Trump officials declared earlier this year that no more Epstein files would be made public.

Jeffrey Epstein led two different lives – sex offender and celebrity networker – and he did that in the UK as well as the US.

The newly released Epstein documents reveal, in particular, how the paedophile financier ascended into the highest levels of British society.

This photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sprawled across the lap of several women, whose identities have been protected, speaks to his close relationship with Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed for child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with Epstein. But the furnishings are even more revealing.

Epstein files – latest updates

Sky News matched the fireplace in this photo with the one in Sandringham, the estate where the royals tend to spend Christmas – (Andrew is not invited this year).

Andrew has vigorously denied any accusations against him.

Also included in the latest release are Epstein’s flight records. They provide some useful corroborating evidence.

On 9 March 2001, his plane landed at “EGGW” – Luton Airport – with JE, GM and VR on board – Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Roberts, better known by her married name of Virginia Giuffre and perhaps Epstein’s most famous accuser.

The next day is when this photo was alleged to have been taken, in London, of Giuffre and Andrew.

Other photos show Maxwell on the steps of Downing Street – and power was as much a draw as celebrity.

On 15 May 2002, the flight records show Epstein again arriving at Luton.

The next day is when he met Tony Blair, prime minister at the time. This was before Epstein’s first arrest and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing.

Read more:
New photos of Jeffrey Epstein’s circle released
Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case material to be released

The meeting was arranged by Peter Mandelson, who lost his job as ambassador to the US because of his Epstein connections, and who features prominently in the files.

The UK was a draw for Epstein’s wider circle too – Maxwell here is pictured touring the Churchill War Rooms with Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey. Neither are accused of wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

And the other grim life that Epstein led, of sex trafficking, also had British links.

Another document released in the files, from 2019, shows witness testimony from Maxwell’s trial. In it, a victim is mentioned who is “17 years old” and who grew up “in England”. She would later be taken to Epstein’s private Caribbean island.