The US Department of Justice has just acknowledged that tens of thousands of documents linked to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation were taken offline after a huge public release, raising new concerns about the transparency of the matter.
Roughly 47000 to 48000 files that used to be a part of the giant database are now offline for review, as per the statements shared by the DOJ today.
They added more light on how they expect to repost those files once the required redactions are completed.
Among the removed files were an FBI interview and various summaries from 2019 that were linked to a female who alleged misconduct from decades before. This had to do with unverified allegations related to President Trump. However, the president has denied that he was involved in any kind of wrongdoing.
Critics alleged that the removal and absence of some of the records contradict the spirit of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
This law mandates how the release of these documents is to be handled and was signed with bipartisan support. Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing to investigate these missing documents. Now, the Justice Department says it defends the actions as needed to protect victim privacy and correct redactions. But this has led to widespread outrage from the public as to why all the files were not released, and many were redacted.