With December 19 set as the deadline for the US Justice Department to release the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files, the first set of records were ultimately released this week. President Donald Trump, in turn, pushed for the records to come to light by signing new law despite slamming the whole scandal as a “Democrat hoax.”

More than 300,000 pages, i.e. records from the DOJ’s investigation into Epstein were published as part of the mandated release. The files appeared on the official Justice Department website under the section labelled “Epstein Files Transparency Act.” Although the act mandated that all files be released by Friday, Attorney General Todd Blanche declared otherwise.

As per a CBS News report, he told lawmakers that the sheer “volume of materials” would require the files to be pushed out “on a rolling basis.” Even the government website highlights the same message.

The official Department of Justice (DOJ) website states: “Redactions of victim names and other identifying information have been applied. In audio files, redactions of victim names and other identifying information have been implemented through the use of a steady, solid tone.”

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Is Trump mentioned in Justice Department’s Epstein Files?

As also noted by the BBC, the Republican president is barely mentioned in the Justice Department release despite his prolonged friendship with the convicted offender prior to his first arrest related to sex crimes.

Trump has long maintained that he fell out with Epstein in the early 2000s, even year before he was apprehended.

According to CBS, Trump does appear at least once in the latest release. The photo-in-a-photo situation catches a glimpse of the present-day US president in a physical photograph alongside Melania Trump, Epstein and the convicted financier’s longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who has also been convicted now. The picture is kept inside a drawer, allegedly inside Epstein’s estate.

Another physical copy of a camera click kept right above the quartet’s Kodak moment showed Trump being surrounded by four bikini-clad women as well. The picture in question doesn’t exactly catch your attention right away since other things kept over it may overshadow it.

Other than that, a copy of the book “The Art of the Deal,” co-authored by Trump and journalist Tony Schwartz, kept on a bookshelf is pictured in a different PDF. Three copies of Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury,” which is about Trump, is seen elsewhere.

See all the aforementioned pictures featuring Trump or at least mentions of him below:

Other than that, a different picture shows Epstein holding up a massive cheque for $22,500 purportedly signed by Trump, suggesting he was buying a “fully depreciated *redacted woman’s name*.” A similar photo of the sort was also published by the official Oversight Democrats account on X a few months back.

As per the post from Democrats, a handwritten note beneath the image said, “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women sells ‘fully depreciated’ [redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500. Showed early ‘people skills’ too. Even though I handled the deal I didn’t get any of the money or the girl!”

Beyond the pictures, case files from the Palm Beach Police Department, which initiated an initial investigation in Epstein in 2005, were also included in the release. Already made public in the past under Florida public record laws, the probe sought to look into a report from the mother of a 14-year-old girl who said her daughter was engaging in sexual activities with an adult living in a Palm Beach mansion, as per NBC News.

Focus turns to Bill Clinton

Former US President Bill Clinton has long been associated with having links with the late financier. He particularly became the focus of the newly released batch of records on the DOJ website, as he was pictured vacationing with Epstein, the sex predator’s associate and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and an unidentified woman.

Clinton appears to be at the forefront of several pictures released so far. Another snap captured him enjoying a drinks-filled dinner with Epstein and rock star Mick Jagger. Yet another showed him touring Winston Churchill’s war room in London.

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The ex-president’s spokesperson has since dragged the release, insinuating that the multiple photos featuring Clinton were used to push him as a scapegoat in the larger scheme of things.

“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton,” Angel Urena said in a statement released online. “This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be. Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton.”

The statement added, “There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”

See the Epstein Files page on the DOJ Disclosures website: http://www.justice.gov/epstein/doj-disclosures