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Right-leaning reactions to the partial release of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case have been sharply divided, with certain backers of the former Trump administration highlighting the prominent presence of former President Clinton and other Democrats in images, while different voices lamented how heavy redactions portray former President Trump and GOP members in a negative manner.

Justice Department Justifies Censorship with Strong Rhetoric

Administration representatives justified the redactions with intense hyperbole. “At no point in U.S. history has a Commander-in-Chief or the Justice Department been so open with the American people about such a delicate law enforcement matter,” declared a senior Justice official Todd Blanche, who released a six-page letter describing the censorship procedure.

Questions Raised by Redactions

While Trump's name and likeness appear in some of the documents, the extensive redactions prompt serious concerns about the information may be hidden behind them. Some conservative lawmakers swiftly called for greater transparency.

“The public are raging and disengaging,” wrote Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Via a social media post, GOP Kentucky Thomas Massie asserted the redactions violate the statute, and implied that a subsequent Congress may move to impeach the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, for that violation. “Regrettably, today’s file dump grossly does not comply with both the spirit and the wording of the law,” he added.

Some Rightwing Figures Rally Behind the Release

But, some rightwing commentators and former President allies came out strongly behind the Justice Department's actions.

The release—from a DOJ run by close Trump ally Pam Bondi—contains scores of pages that are completely censored, and numerous of the individuals depicted in photographs have their identities blacked out.

But a few do not, including prominent individuals like Clinton, entertainer Michael Jackson, and scholar Noam Chomsky. The presence of the former president, especially, allowed some rightwing figures to launch the attack.

“This is pretty rich how the political left wrongly claimed Donald Trump of being a pedophile, only for the Trump DOJ to release Epstein files that show Bill Clinton swimming nude with a convicted sex offender,” stated right-wing activist Laura Loomer.

“New documents reveal Bill Clinton without a shirt in a jacuzzi with a woman that is not his spouse Hillary Clinton,” wrote attorney Rogan O’Handley. “There’s only one explanation Epstein would take pictures of a Commander-in-Chief with a young woman in a jacuzzi: Leverage.”

Former President Spokesperson Issues Response

Clinton has repeatedly stated he was aware of zero criminal activity by Epstein and has not been accused to have participated in any wrongdoing. “The administration has not been hiding these documents for months only to release them at the last minute on a weekend to protect Bill Clinton,” Clinton’s spokesperson Angel Ureña said in a comment.

“The release is about protecting themselves from what comes next, or from information they will try and conceal forever. So they can publicize as many low-quality decades-old photographs as they desire, but it is not about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be,” the response added.

Overall Rightwing Comment Seems Muted

However, overall comment on the right was comparatively subdued following the disclosure, especially when compared with the vociferous calls for transparency that came before the legislative approval to pass a bill requiring the files' publication.

Loomer, who recently accepted press credentials at the Pentagon, had been among the most vocal proponents for a full disclosure. In February, she chastised the Justice Department broadly and Bondi in particular after a set of rightwing personalities were provided hard-copy folders of materials that contained no previously unseen information.