Members of the Democratic Party accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of orchestrating “the largest government cover-up in modern history,” against the backdrop of media reports that documents were withheld related to a sexual assault complaint filed by a woman against Trump, claiming that it occurred when she was a minor.
The US Department of Justice has published a large amount of documents, estimated at millions, related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, a financier who was convicted of crimes related to trafficking in minors and sexual assault, under the Transparency Law that was passed last year. However, NPR revealed a lack of documentation related to the complaint filed against Trump in 2019.
On the other hand, Trump has repeatedly denied committing any wrongdoing, considering that the Justice Department’s publication of what is known as the “Epstein files” represents evidence of his innocence. But indexes and serial numbers attached to documents investigating the human trafficking network run by Epstein show, according to the radio, that FBI agents conducted four interviews with the complainant and prepared summaries and notes related to her.
However, the public database included only one summary focusing on the woman’s allegations against Epstein, while three other summaries totaling more than 50 pages were not published.
In response to these accusations, the Justice Department clarified that the unpublished materials fall within classifications that the law allows to be withheld, such as duplicates or documents related to a federal investigation that is still ongoing. The ministry added, in a statement published on social media, that it would republish the documents that were temporarily deleted in order to make the necessary revisions.
For his part, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, stated that he reviewed the unredacted records within the Department of Justice and reached the same conclusion, stressing that Democrats on the committee will initiate a parallel investigation and will request that the missing records be handed over to Congress.
It should be noted that the complainant first contacted authorities in July 2019, shortly after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. Internal references in the published documents indicate that the woman stated that Epstein introduced her to Trump, who assaulted her in the mid-1980s, when she was between 13 and 15 years old.
