NEW YORK, August 2. /TASS/. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has erased the names of US President Donald Trump and a number of other prominent individuals from documents related to the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing minors, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
According to the news agency, the documents were edited while the FBI was preparing them for potential publication. As Trump and some of the other individuals mentioned in the documents were private individuals when the federal investigation into Epstein began in 2006, it was decided that their names should be concealed. Subsequently, the FBI and the US Department of Justice decided that the release of these papers would not be "appropriate or justified."
The news agency emphasized that being mentioned in the documents cannot be considered evidence of involvement in the financier's criminal activities.
Epstein was arrested by New York state law enforcement agencies on July 6, 2019. Prosecutors said there was evidence that, from 2002 to 2005, he had arranged for dozens of underage girls, the youngest of whom was 14, to visit his Manhattan home. Epstein's circle of friends and acquaintances included many current and former officials from the US and other countries, including former heads of state, prominent businesspeople, and celebrities. Criminal proceedings against the financier were terminated after his suicide in a prison cell on August 10, 2019.