Former President Donald Trump recently broke his silence regarding the release of hundreds of thousands of files by the Justice Department. These documents came to light on Friday, following a newly enacted law mandating their disclosure.

The law received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing both the House and Senate with only one Republican dissenting. Although Trump signed the legislation, his administration initially indicated no further Epstein materials would be released after a comprehensive review.

At an event held in the library of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach club, he voiced concerns over the publication of images involving individuals who had no substantial connections to Epstein. “Many people are upset that their reputations are being tarnished simply because they attended the same event as Epstein,” Trump stated, emphasizing that he had expelled Epstein from the club in the early 2000s.

Trump further remarked, “Many Republicans are frustrated by the persistence of this issue, perceiving it as a distraction from significant achievements.”

Throughout his political career, Trump has consistently minimized his association with Epstein, often highlighting their past disagreements. He has also expressed caution about the potential harm that releasing such files could cause to those mentioned within them.

He notably said at Mar-a-Lago he even “hated” to see so many photos of former President Bill Clinton contained in the latest batch of documents released by the Justice Department.

Clinton has never been charged with any crimes or accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein; one of the most publicised images in the DOJ release last week was a picture of Clinton in a hot tub with his arms folded behind his head.

Beside him is a person whose faced is redacted.

“I think Bill Clinton’s a big boy. He can handle it,” Trump said.

A representative of Clinton, meanwhile, shared a statement pn Monday before Trump’s remarks calling on the Justice Department to “immediately release any remaining materials referring to, mentioning, or containing a photograph of Bill Clinton.”

“Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department of Justice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation – using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice, over many years, under Presidents and Attorneys General of both parties,” said the spokesperson, Angel Ureña, in a statement posted on X.

The Justice Department is facing criticism from survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse and lawmakers on Capitol Hill over how it has released materials from its investigation of the convicted sex offender.

Though the law required the department to make public “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials,” officials did not do so on the Friday deadline, instead releasing a first tranche of files. Lawmakers of both parties said that was unacceptable, with some indicating they would explore legal action.

Survivors asserted that the disclosures were incomplete and improperly redacted.

The department has said lawyers will work in the coming weeks to make redactions to protect victims and alleviate other possible concerns.

As for the photos of himself contained in the Epstein files, Trump shrugged off what he said was a social connection from another era.

“They give you their photos of me, too,” he said. “Everybody was friendly with this guy, either friendly or not friendly, but he was around. He was all over Palm Beach.”