Todd Blanche says removal of images has ‘nothing to do’ with the president, and removal of 16 photos came at request of victim advocacy groups – key US politics stories from Sunday 21 December at a glance
Deputy US attorney general Todd Blanche said on Sunday that removing photos from the Jeffrey Epstein files release, including one of Donald Trump, had “nothing to do” with the president, as the justice department restored an image it had removed a day earlier that included within it a photo of Trump.
The US justice department said on Sunday it restored the image after concluding that the photograph posed no risk of public exposure to victims of the late convicted sex offender. Its unexplained removal on Saturday triggered a chorus of accusations from Democrats of political interference in favor of the president, a former friend of Epstein.
Blanche said a total of 16 removals had come at the request of victim advocacy groups. Blanche maintained that an investigation into the photos was ongoing and that images would likely go back up after it was determined whether they needed redactions.
“We don’t have perfect information,” Blanche told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday. “And so when, when we hear from victims-rights groups about this type of photograph, we pull it down and investigate.”
