The Justice Department has withheld key documents in the Epstein case that implicate Trump

WashingtonIn the tsunami of more of the three million documents on the Epstein case published in January, The Justice Department withheld a number of key files concerning Donald Trump. An FBI index of investigations has revealed that a memo prepared by the agency following a 2019 complaint filed by a woman is missing from the files released to the public. The woman accused Trump and Epstein of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor years earlier. Since the summary of the memo is included in the vast public database created by the administration, it has been possible to determine how the department has withheld the report. According to the index, the FBI conducted four interviews related to these allegations, but only the notes from one have been released. The remaining three, totaling approximately 50 pages, are missing. The public documents also do not include the original interview notes, which are listed in the index as part of the file. In other interviews conducted by the FBI with other potential victims and witnesses of the abuse, the Justice Department has released the original notes.

The observation that the administration has avoided including the report in the public database has been made by both the New York Times like public radio NPR. In a similar analysis, the network also points out how the Justice Department has removed allegations against Epstein that also mentioned the president from the public database. According to CNN's review, more than 90 interviews conducted by the FBI during the investigation are missing. It is unclear why all this information has been omitted.

On Tuesday, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Democrat Robert Garcia, confirmed the missing documents. "We have a survivor who made a series of allegations against the president. But there are a number of documents, and it appears that possible interviews, that the FBI conducted with the survivor are missing, and we don't have access to them," Garcia stated.

On Monday, the Justice Department responded that "the only materials that have been withheld were classified or duplicates." In a new statement, the department suggested another possibility: that the files are included in "an ongoing federal investigation." The law forcing the release of all documents left the department considerable discretion in deciding which materials to make public and which to keep private. Among other options, it reserved the right to withhold documents that could interfere with federal investigations. Last year, in an attempt to shift the focus, Trump announced he had instructed the FBI to investigate the Clintons' relationship with Epstein, as they are also mentioned in the documents. Tomorrow and the day after, the couple plans to testify before the committee overseeing the investigations into the pedophile.

This is not the first time the department has tried to sweep new scandals under the rug. After gaining access to the unredacted files, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie also denounced the fact that the names of at least six men who were "likely involved" in the abuse scheme were included, but their identities had been concealed. Among them were a U.S. citizen, an individual who held a "high-ranking position in a foreign government," and "three or four more" whose nationalities have not yet been identified. "There is no reason in our legislation that allows them to censor the names of these men," Massie denounced.

The Trump's relationship with Epstein imploded last summer Like a grape bomb, it severely damaged the president's credibility among his base, while also implicating other prominent figures. The Republican spent his campaign promising to release the documents on the case of the pedophile who died in his cell in 2019, just before his trial. But, once in the Oval Office, this never happened. The three million files that are now available were finally released because a large majority, including Republicans, forced Congress to pass a law mandating the public release of the Epstein investigations. Trump, cornered by the scandal, eventually caved, and the Justice Department, controlled by loyalists, has turned the transparency exercise into a smokescreen.

The two batches of documents released by the department—both outside the legal deadline—provided no new information about Trump's connection to Epstein. The new revelations either referred to details already known—such as the president's birthday greeting to Epstein—or were duplicates of emails already released by the congressional committee last year. Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General and former presidential lawyer Todd Blanche considers the controversy closed. "There was nothing that would allow us to prosecute anyone," he said the day after the files were released. As time has shown, the release has not had a significant impact on the president's image. The damage had already been done, and the new information, at this point, has not added anything to worsen the scandal. On the contrary, it has triggered a wave of resignations in Europe, with a resounding outcry in the British monarchywhich have practically diverted attention from the sexual abuse allegations against Trump.