Criticism of the US Department of Justice's approach to releasing documents from investigations into the now-deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is growing. This is partly due to the extensive redaction of content and partly because not everything has yet been made public.
The fact that a picture featuring Trump was removed is fueling criticism.
Blackout?
Erik Åsard, professor emeritus of North American studies at Uppsala University, thinks that most things point to a cover-up.
Donald Trump is very concerned about his reputation. It's been a month since Congress decided that everything would be released on December 19th, and that's how long they've had to redact the documents, he says.
Dag Blanck, professor of North American studies at Uppsala University, points out that the Department of Justice is allowed to cover up for the purpose of, for example, protecting crime victims.
But it is difficult to know now what proportion of the material has been masked because we do not know how much there is, he says.
“Unlike Trump”
Åsard believes that there is something different about Trump's handling of the release of the documents compared to previous scandals. In those cases, he has often brushed aside or released material that disarmed critics.
According to Åsard, the president even interrupted a meeting with the media the other day before any questions about the Epstein affair could be asked.
"It's very unlike Trump, who loves the spotlight. It suggests that something is weighing on him, maybe even making him ashamed," says Erik Åsard.
It is bad for Trump to be mentioned in the documents, and if it is interpreted as him hiding something, says Blanck, who believes that the handling will affect Trump in the long term and may have consequences for the midterm elections next year.
The fact that Trump has portrayed himself as someone who would storm against the power elite and is now being linked to it does not look good. The drawn-out process and the president's change of heart about whether the documents should be released are negatively affecting him, the professor believes. And it has already led to criticism and conspiracy theories within the Make America Great Again movement's own ranks – which is unlikely to stop now.
It appears that he has something to hide, and it fuels conspiracy theories, which suits the MAGA movement, says US expert Dag Blanck.
