At least 15 files released CBS News has determined that information released by the Justice Department on Friday about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was no longer available on the department’s website on Saturday.
CBS News downloaded the entire set of documents Friday and compared them with those provided Saturday.
It’s unclear why the files were missing. CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
The Justice Department appeared to touch on the issue in a social media post on its
One of the missing documents revealed a large number of framed photos on a bookcase table. In the photo is former President Bill Clinton, and in the other is a photo of the Pope. In an open drawer was a photo of President Trump, Epstein and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
On Sunday, the Justice Department said the Southern District of New York had flagged the framed photo for possible further action to protect the victim and that the photo had been put back online.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice has temporarily removed the image pending further review,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “After review, it was determined that there was no evidence that any Epstein victims were depicted in the photo, and the photo has been republished without any changes or edits.”
Other missing documents include photos of a room that appeared to have a massage table as well as nude photos and nude paintings.
This episode has deepening worries The Ministry of Justice has announced this Highly anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages released offer few new insights into Epstein’s crimes or prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most high-profile material, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.
Some of the most important records about Epstein could not be found among the tens of thousands of pages of documents originally released by the Justice Department.
Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos reviewing charging decisions — records that would have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge in 2008.
Records released under a recent law passed by Congress require little mention of several powerful figures with longstanding ties to Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, raising again questions about who is under scrutiny and who is not, and the extent to which the disclosures actually advance public accountability
Among the new highlights: An inside look at the Justice Department’s decision in the 2000s to drop its investigation into Epstein, which allowed him to plead guilty to state charges, and the unprecedented 1996 indictment accusing Epstein of stealing photos of children.
The photos released so far have mainly been of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with some photos of celebrities and politicians.
There is a collection of never-before-seen photos of Hillary, but very few of Trump. Both had ties to Epstein, but both later denied those friendships. Neither man has been accused of any wrongdoing with Epstein, and there is no indication the photos played a role in the criminal case against him.
Although Congress set a Friday deadline to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release the records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not yet given any notice of when it might receive more records.
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