Washington, Dec 21 (UNI/SPUTNIK) At least 16 files have disappeared from the section of the US Justice Department’s website where documents related to the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein had been published, the Associated Press reported.
The US Justice Department released some of the Epstein case materials on Saturday in compliance with a previously passed law supported by both Democrats and many Republicans in Congress.
US President Donald Trump is suspected of ties to Epstein, although no specific evidence has yet been presented that the US leader had been involved in child abuse.
According to the Associated Press, the missing files included images of paintings of nude women, as well as a photograph showing a series of photos arranged on a dresser and in drawers, including a photo of Trump next to Epstein, Melania Trump, and Epstein’s longtime accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
In 2019, Epstein was charged in the United States with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit the crime, and faced more than 40 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, between 2002 and 2005, Epstein engaged in sexual relations with dozens of underage girls he hosted at his residences in New York and Florida. He paid them in cash, then commissioned some of the victims to serve as recruiters to bring in more girls. Some of the victims were as young as 14 years old.
In early July 2019, a Manhattan court in New York City, after hearing Epstein’s arraignment, ordered him held in custody and denied bail. In late July of that year, it was reported that Epstein had been found in a jail cell “semi-conscious” and subsequently died. The investigation concluded that he had died by suicide.
Public interest in the Epstein case revived when the Trump administration failed to declassify files as promised.
Criticism of the US president intensified after the FBI and Justice Department stated that Epstein had not blackmailed influential individuals or maintained a client list, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claiming the opposite.
