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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche addressed the heavy backlash and criticism from lawmakers and the public over the way the administration and Department of Justice (DOJ) handled the release of the Epstein files on Friday.
Much attention has centered on a photo that appeared to contain a photo of a desk with several photos on it, including one of President Donald Trump. This photo, document 468, was subsequently removed following its initial publication.
During an interview appearance on NBC News' Meet the Press, Blanche explained that the photo was taken down in response to concerns that another photo on the desk contained unredacted faces of victims, stressing that DOJ is "in every way complying with the statute."
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"If we believed that that photograph contained a survivor, we wouldn't have put it up in the first place without redacting the faces," Blanche told host Kristen Welker. "But notwithstanding what we believe, we don't have perfect information. When we hear from victims' rights groups about this type of photograph, we pull it down and investigate. We're still investigating that photo. The photo will go back up."
Why It Matters
Representatives Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, co-sponsored a bill requiring the DOJ to fully release all files related to the federal investigation into disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, refused to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, forcing Khanna and Massie to seek a discharge petition, which would require a floor vote shortly after securing 218 signatures, which occurred once the government shutdown ended in mid-November.
With the near-unanimous passage of the bill, the DOJ was legally required to release all files on December 19. However, the DOJ released only a portion of the files, saying the department needed to finish redacting them to protect the identities of victims or minors, and to ensure that no ongoing investigation is compromised—both exceptions allowed by the law passed by Congress.
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What To Know
On Sunday, Blanche responded to a litany of issues raised against the DOJ's release of the Epstein files to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, including the fact the DOJ failed to release all files as mandated within the required timeframe, the intense redactions of entire documents, and the removal of some files that had been released.
"There were a number of photographs that were pulled down after being released on Friday, and that's because a judge in New York has ordered us to listen to any victim or victim rights group if they have any concerns about the material we're putting up," Blanche told Welker.
He continued: "When we hear concerns, whether it's about photographs of women we do not believe are victims or we didn't have information to show they were victims, but we learn there are concerns, of course we're going to take that photograph down, and we're going to address it. If we need to redact faces or other information, we will, and then we'll put it back up."
Welker also asked Blanche to respond to criticism of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, noting that Khanna and Massie have said lawmakers already discussed articles of impeachment against her over the lack of compliance with the law.
Blanche responded: "Bring it on. We are doing everything we're supposed to be doing to comply with the statute. And Congressman Massie and these other congressmen that are coming out speaking negatively about [FBI] Director [Kash] Patel and the attorney general have no idea what they're talking about."
The deputy attorney general added: "They know the work that we're going through. They know what we're doing to protect victims. Just think about what we're doing. You're talking about a million or so pages of documents. Virtually all of them contain victim information. The idea that Attorney General Bondi would ever let a single piece of paper go out of this department that contains victim information is something they know we won't do, and the fact that they're threatening to impeach her for protecting victims is a reflection of where their head's at."
What People Are Saying
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday: "We are in every way, shape, and form, complying with the statute, which by the way, is what President Trump has been asking us to do since before he was elected. There is nothing that he has to hide in the Epstein files. There never was. And even though there's repeated attempts by Democrats to paint him as being part of the Epstein saga, it's failing over and over again."
"And so you should not be surprised that the material that we released on Friday or the material that we're going to release over the next couple of weeks is exactly what the statute requires us to release, which is everything that we have from this case, with the exception of redacting personal information from victims and other statutes, you know, privileges and things like that. Otherwise, everything is getting produced," he added.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson previously told Newsweek: “The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history. Attorney General Bondi is doing an excellent job delivering on the President’s promises. If these Democrats cared about truth and transparency they would be demanding answers from Bill Clinton, Hakeem Jeffries, and Stacey Plaskett.”
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, during a press call on Friday: “We could refer Justice Department Officials for criminal prosecution, if it looks like they have engaged in excessive redaction or tampering, and we can support lawsuits to abide by the law. All options are on the table, but, the other thing we’re thinking of doing, and having been in touch with survivors and survivors' lawyers, is to bring the survivors back to Capitol Hill, to demand compliance with the law.”
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, wrote on X on Friday: “Attorney General Pam Bondi is withholding specific documents that the law required her to release by today.”
British broadcaster Piers Morgan on Saturday wrote on X: "Memo to the Trump administration: the longer you drag out the Epstein files, and the more of it you heavily redact, the worse this scandal will get. What we’re seeing now, as many of your own supporters are saying, is the opposite of the ‘full transparency’ you promised."
What Happens Next
Khanna said that the lawmakers have lawyers going through the Epstein files, noting that “so far, I have not seen much new."
The DOJ has said it will continue to release files, and it must provide Congress with an explanation for why it chose to redact any photos or files to which it did so.
Update 12/21/25, 12:18 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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