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Internal Pressure Mounts on Trump Over Epstein Document Edits

NewsFinale Journal
By NewsFinale Journal
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Extensive redactions and the partial release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have angered some Republicans and done little to defuse a scandal threatening the party ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
US President Donald Trump, a Republican, touted the release of the so-called Epstein files on Friday (local time) as a show of transparency.
But a handful of Republican politicians and right-wing media figures joined Democrats in criticising the disclosures as inadequate and possibly in violation of a law that prompted their release.
While the criticism fell short of a broader party backlash, it underscored that the Epstein controversy was far from being put to rest and was likely to linger into next year, when Republicans will be fighting to keep control of Congress.

In an effort to adhere to a bipartisan mandate from Congress, the Department of Justice began releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. This move is in compliance with legislation passed in November, requiring full disclosure of all Epstein-related documents held by the DOJ. While the initial release of files was substantial, a smaller collection followed on Saturday.

That was despite a months-long effort to keep them sealed by Trump, who once counted Epstein as a close friend.
Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes.
The new disclosure represented only a fraction of the total data the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DOJ have said they possess related to Epstein and was heavily redacted, including hundreds of pages that were entirely blacked out.

Interestingly, these documents prominently feature former President Bill Clinton, a notable political adversary from the Democratic Party. The inclusion of Clinton’s name has drawn significant attention, particularly given his high-profile status.

Mich Jaggr with Bill Clinton and a woman whose face is redacted

A photograph of Bill Clinton, alongside Mick Jagger and an unidentified woman, was among the images released, emphasizing the former president’s presence in the files. This specific photo was sourced from the US Department of Justice, underscoring the official nature of the release.

However, the release did not come without its own share of controversy. On Saturday, it was noted that a file containing a photo of Donald Trump was conspicuously absent from the publicly available dataset. This omission has raised questions and added another layer of intrigue to the unfolding situation.

‘People are raging and walking away’

Democrats and Republicans alike criticised the Trump administration for not releasing all the files and for the extensive redactions.

Democrat Ro Khanna, who co-authored the law requiring full disclosure, floated possible impeachment of attorney-general Pam Bondi over the failure to release the files on time.
Republican Thomas Massie also believed that Bondi violated the law, warning in a post to X that she and others could face criminal charges in the future when the DOJ was in Democratic hands.

“People are raging and walking away,” she wrote on X.

Some conservative commentators also criticised the DOJ’s decision not to disclose more.
Owen Shroyer, a podcaster who was pardoned by Trump for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021 — but has since become a critic of the president — said he believed the DOJ was intentionally slow-walking disclosures.
“They covered up the Epstein Files. No other way to put it now,” Shroyer wrote on X after Friday’s release.
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