Donald Trump’s Department of Justice released the first batch of the infamous Epstein files on Friday, December 19, 2025.
However, the US President’s name was largely missing from the documents despite the history of his longtime friendship with deceased financier and s– offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Instead, much of the focus fell on former President Bill Clinton, who appeared in several undated images released as part of the documents.
According to Reuters, many of the files released on Friday were heavily redacted, with 100 or more pages blacked out entirely.
The Department of Justice addressed the redaction, mentioning that hundreds of thousands of additional pages were still under review for a potential future release.
In the photos featuring Clinton, the former President could be seen posing with women and swimming in a pool alongside Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
One of the images also showed him in the hot tub with another woman whose face was redacted.
JUST IN: A large portion of the Epstein files have been released, showing photos of Jeffrey Epstein with high-profile associates including former President Bill Clinton.
In one photo, Clinton was seen in a hot tub with anonymous female.
In another photo, Clinton is seen with… pic.twitter.com/TVlKhI6hYG
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 19, 2025
According to The Daily Beast, Bill Clinton never faced any accusation of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. He also denied any involvement with underage women and said he broke ties with the financier before his 2019 arrest.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who was known for his close friendship with Epstein in the 1990s, previously claimed that he cut off ties with the offender after their falling out in the 2000s.
Despite their alleged fallout before Epstein’s first conviction, Trump’s name repeatedly surfaced in discussions surrounding the financier and his many controversies.
For example, the President was among those named in the flight manifests released by the DOJ in February as part of the initial Epstein material. It listed passengers who traveled on Epstein’s private plane.
It is to be noted that Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing and previously denied being aware of Epstein’s crimes. In fact, the President has repeatedly taken aim at Clinton for his connection with Epstein.
He even ordered the DOJ to open an investigation into the former President and other Democrats who may be associated with the convicted offender.
However, Trump himself has been pushing back on the release of the Epstein files for months on end. He even claimed that Democrats “created the Epstein Files,” calling it a “hoax.”
His stance on the release of the files later changed, especially after Congress decided to pass a bill ordering the DOJ to unveil the documents.
Last month, the House of Representatives and Senate unanimously voted to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The law demanded that the Department of Justice release “all” of the Epstein files while concealing the names and identifying information of victims.
The act also mandated the documents to be released in a “searchable” form. However, the search function reportedly failed to function as of Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton’s press secretary issued a statement acknowledging the former President’s images released with the Epstein files.
The statement accused the White House of “shielding themselves” by making Clinton a “scapegoat.”
Statement from President Clinton’s Press Secretary on the Epstein files release:
“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton.
This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll…
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 19, 2025
“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton,” it read.
“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,” the statement continued.
“Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton,” it noted.
“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,” the statement explained.
“We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that,” it added. “Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats,” the statement concluded.
