The top Democrat on the congressional committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein has accused the US justice department of withholding files containing allegations of sexual abuse of a minor made against President Donald Trump.
Robert Garcia, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, said he had personally viewed documents containing the allegation that had not been made public.
In response, the justice department said “NOTHING has been deleted”, adding that documents were withheld only if they were “duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation”.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to the Epstein case and has recently said he has been “totally exonerated”.
The justice department has also previously said that some of the files contain “untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump”.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said on Tuesday that “by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”
Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, appears to have been friends with Trump for a number of years. They later fell out – which happened in the early 2000s, according to Trump, two years before Epstein was first arrested.
The justice department has released millions of files that show what the federal investigations into Epstein uncovered. The staged releases were prompted by an act signed off by the president, who had earlier resisted the release of the material.
Some files were redacted, and officials have acknowledged that other files were not released at all. The legislation allowed the justice department to withhold certain files to secure active investigations or prosecutions, and to protect the identities of victims.
Garcia said the files he had seen “make it clear” that a woman “made additional, specific allegations” against Trump that “are not reflected” in the records that have been made public by the department.
By Anthony Solly
Courtesy:BBC News
