The Department of Justice (DOJ) finally released the first initial tranche of documents and photos pertaining to deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and President Donald Trump appears to be completely omitted from the files despite his history with Epstein.
In the DOJ's "Epstein Library," which is where the public is able to peruse the Epstein files, the site's search function yields zero results when searching for "Trump" or "Donald Trump." According to NBC News, the search function on the website is apparently broken, as results for "Maxwell" (the surname of his chief accomplice) also are not yielding results.
"This is the worst possible way they could have done it, you gotta leave him in some non-terrible stuff so you can argue that's all there is," wrote progressive influencer Rincewind.run on Bluesky. "'he wasn't mentioned once' is not gonna fly."
Despite the search feature's apparent failure, many of the pages in the DOJ's database – which has been separated into multiple categories including court records, DOJ disclosures, records provided via the Freedom of Information Act and the House Oversight Committee's releases – are completely redacted from top to bottom. Ben Collins, who is CEO of the satirical newspaper The Onion, posted a video showing dozens of pages of documents that were entirely redacted.
"The Epstein files, everybody!" Collins posted, showing a rapid scroll of a 120-plus page PDF file showing nothing but redactions.
"Stunning new revelation: Epstein hung out almost exclusively with guys who had black boxes where their heads should be," Collins quipped in a subsequent Bluesky post. Collins further observed that one the few public figures whose image wasn't redacted was that of former Democratic President Bill Clinton.
"Breaking News: The Epstein Files," wrote Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown, who posted an image of a document entitled "masseuse list" with every line redacted.
Despite all of the redactions, the DOJ warned that some identifying information may have been inadvertently left in the documents. NOTUS reporter Daniella Diaz posted the DOJ's statement on her X account.
"In view of the Congressional deadline, all reasonable efforts have been made to review and redact personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure,'" the statement read. "That said, because of the volume of information involved, this website may nevertheless contain information that inadvertently includes non-public personally identifiable information or other sensitive content, to include matters of a sexual nature. In the event a member of the public identifies any information that should not have been posted, please notify us immediately at EFTA@usdoj.gov so we can take steps to correct the problem as soon as possible."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson maintained that the Trump administration is "the most transparent in history," and that the White House "has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have." Jackson also added that "the American people deserve answers" from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) about "soliciting money and meetings from Epstein."