The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a response after a document containing alleged tips received by the FBI about Donald Trump temporarily went missing from the Epstein files.
More than three million documents in relation to disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein were shared by the DOJ on Friday (30 January).
One document contained a number of tips about Trump, who socialised with Epstein for over a decade, including claims that a 13 or 14-year-old girl was allegedly forced to perform oral sex on the US president many years ago.
An 'unidentified female friend' of the alleged victim made the claim, with the complaint claiming that the underage girl was 'allegedly hit in the face after she laughed' about it.
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There is no indication from the FBI that these claims have any substance whatsoever, and any mention in the Epstein files does not indicate wrongdoing.
Trump has continuously denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and hasn't been accused of anything by Epstein's victims. He has also said he'd fallen out with Epstein before his first conviction in 2008.
That year, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution, for which he served 13 months in a jail work-release programme.
The White House and DOJ have since released a similar statement regarding the allegations.
“Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election,” they said in a press release.
“To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already.”
Prior to release, the White House said that the Epstein files 'may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos' because the administration had turned over 'everything that was sent to the FBI by the public'.
After the document temporarily went missing from the files, the DOJ also told The Telegraph that the document wasn't accessible 'due to overload and is back online'.
When the last set of files was released on 19 December, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche also explained why an image of Epstein’s desk showing a photo of Trump surrounded by women was published, deleted and then reuploaded.
He said that Trump has nothing to do with the photo getting deleted and reminded critics that Epstein never suggested that the president did 'anything criminal or had any inappropriate contact with any of his victims'.
It comes after Blanche said to reporters on Friday that no further files are due to be released.
“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act,” he added.
“To this end, though, and to ensure transparency, if any member of Congress wishes to review any portions of the responsive production in any unredacted form, they are welcome to make arrangements with the department to do so.”
Topics: Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, US News, Politics
Anish Vij