Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche found himself on the defensive Sunday after an NBC News anchor confronted him with a photo of President Donald Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein—one of the images recently removed from the Department of Justice’s website.
“There are dozens of photos of President Trump already released to the public, seeing him with Mr. Epstein,” Blanche told Meet The Press. “The absurdity of us pulling down a single photo because President Trump was in it is laughable. And the fact that everybody’s trying to act like that’s the case is a reflection of their true motivation.”
The removed photo, part of at least 16 files that vanished from the DOJ website Saturday, shows Trump and Melania Trump posing with Epstein and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The files were initially uploaded the day before but quickly disappeared, sparking immediate speculation of a White House cover-up.
Blanche insisted the removal was not politically motivated. He said the photo was pulled because “a judge in New York” directed the Justice Department to consult victims or victims’ rights groups if they raised concerns about any materials. “If they reach out and ask for the photos to be taken down, then the Justice Department will oblige,” Blanche said, admitting he doesn’t have “perfect information” and doesn’t know if anyone in the photo was a victim of Epstein. He added that the files will eventually be restored online.
“There is nothing that [Trump] has to hide in the Epstein files,” Blanche asserted. “There never was. And even though there’s repeated attempts by Democrats to paint him as being part of the Epstein saga, it’s failing over and over again.”
But Democrats are not buying it. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) slammed the White House on social media, declaring, “Trump and his lackeys have proven one thing – they’re absolutely committed to the coverup.”
The controversy comes as Congress pushes the DOJ to release all Epstein-related files, a process complicated by the need to redact victims’ names. The initial batch released Friday offered little new insight into Epstein’s operations before his 2019 death while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
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