Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back on claims that any information had been redacted from the most recently-released trove of Epstein documents in order to protect certain politically-connected people — particularly President Donald Trump.
NBC anchor Kristen Welker posed the question directly during Blanche’s Sunday morning appearance on “Meet the Press,” asking whether anything in the massive trove of documents — released on Friday pursuant to the Epstein Transparency Act — had been redacted because of “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
WATCH:
NBC: Has anything in the Epstein Files been redacted on that basis of ’embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity’?@DAGToddBlanche: “Absolutely, positively not.” pic.twitter.com/DT93hLwUcd
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 21, 2025
“Absolutely, positively not,” Blanche declared, adding that the only redactions made had been to protect known and potential victims, some of which only became known after some of the photos in the most recent batch were made public.
WATCH:
.@DAGToddBlanche: “The absurdity of us pulling down a photo — a single photo — because President Trump was in it is laughable, and the fact that everybody is trying to act like that’s the case is a reflection of their true motivation.” pic.twitter.com/9u7ZjgL4m7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 21, 2025
Welker asked then about a number of photos that were pulled down from the Justice Department website after the release on Friday, specifically referencing one that appeared to show a desk with a drawer open to reveal several photos — some of which featured President Trump — and asking why those photos had been removed.
Blanche once again stated that concerns were raised — after the photos were made public — about the women in the photos and whether or not their identities should have been protected. He went on to note that photos were not being redacted simply because Trump was in them — especially considering the fact that so many photos already existed of Trump in Epstein’s circles and no one was trying to hide those.
“The absurdity of us pulling down a photo — a single photo — because President Trump was in it is laughable, and the fact that everybody is trying to act like that’s the case is a reflection of their true motivation,” he said.
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