A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday that the person whose name is blacked out in one of the widely circulated new photos of former President Bill Clinton in a hot tub is “a victim” of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaker, Gates McGavick, on the X and wrote: “Beloved Democratic President. The black stripe was added to protect the victim.”
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the US Department of Justice to withhold information that could identify victims of sexual abuse.
However, it’s not clear whether all omissions in all photos were made to protect a confirmed victim. For example, an older man’s face was hidden in some images.
Clinton was never charged with any crime nor indicted by authorities for any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the former president said the Trump administration was “protecting itself from what’s coming.” The statement added that the former president had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and had broken the relationship before these crimes came to light.
“There are two types of people here,” said spokesperson Angel Ureña. “The first group knew nothing and cut ties with Epstein before his crimes came to light. The second group continued to have contact with him afterward. We are in the first group.”
In a letter sent to Congress on Friday, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department’s extensive review of Epstein-related materials “did not reveal evidence that could support an investigation against uncharged third parties,” which would include Clinton.
Before joining the Trump administration this year, McGavick worked for the Republican National Committee and to several Republican legislators.
The Justice Department declined to comment when the CNN asked about McGavick’s post.
Understand what the “Epstein Files” are
During the sex trafficking investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, federal prosecutors gathered millions of documents.
The “Epstein Files” contain more than 300 gigabytes of data, documents, videos, photographs and audio stored in the FBI’s main electronic case management system, the US federal investigations agency, the “Sentinel”.
These records include investigative reports and documents from the original FBI investigation in Miami.
