In a move that quickly drew bipartisan scrutiny, the Department of Justice appears to have removed more than a dozen documents from its public release of investigative files related to the sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, including one photograph that featured former President Donald Trump. The removal from the DOJ’s website has ignited accusations of a cover-up and raised questions about the department’s commitment to the transparency mandated by federal law.

The files were made public on Friday as part of a rolling release under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law passed by Congress to compel the disclosure of all related documents. Among the initial batch was a photo of a desk displaying numerous framed pictures, at least two of which clearly showed Donald Trump. However, by Saturday, that image, designated as file 468, was reportedly missing from the DOJ’s website, along with at least 15 other files.

The disappearance did not go unnoticed by lawmakers. In a post on the social media platform X, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee directly challenged the move, writing, “This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release. @AGPamBondi is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

The criticism came from both sides of the aisle, particularly from the sponsors of the transparency act. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who co-sponsored the House bill, accused the Justice Department of openly disregarding the statute. In a post on X, he contrasted the law’s language directing the DOJ to provide internal communications with a DOJ letter asserting privilege to omit those same materials.

His Democratic counterpart, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), stated on Friday that Congress is considering impeachment hearings for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche if the document release fails to comply with the law. “What we need is a clear timeline of when the rest of the documents will be released and an explanation for why they did not release all of them today,” Khanna said at a press conference.

In response to the growing controversy, the Justice Department has maintained that its actions are lawful. In a statement posted to X late Friday, the DOJ said it wasn’t “redacting the names of any politicians,” a sentiment echoed by Deputy AG Blanche. “The only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law — full stop,” Blanche stated. “Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim.”

Blanche, who previously served as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, specifically addressed the former president in an interview with ABC News, asserting there has been “no effort” to redact any mention of him in the files. The White House has deferred all questions about the missing photo to the DOJ, which has not yet provided a public explanation for the files’ removal.

While Donald Trump was a former acquaintance of Epstein, he has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the case and has denied any awareness of Epstein’s crimes. The newly released files also included several photos featuring former President Bill Clinton, who has similarly not been accused of any wrongdoing.

A spokesman for Clinton, Angel Urena, released a fiery statement distinguishing between those who associated with Epstein before his crimes were public and those who continued a relationship after. “We’re in the first [group],” Urena said, before accusing others of stalling and attempting to use his boss as a scapegoat. “This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever,” he added.

The incident has shifted the focus from the contents of the Epstein files to the process of their release. At the heart of the controversy is a fundamental conflict between a government agency’s actions and its public promises, leaving lawmakers and citizens to question the integrity of a process designed to deliver accountability and restore public trust.