Criticism of the US government's handling of the thorny Epstein case intensified on Sunday, with the Democratic opposition accusing Donald Trump of seeking to stifle the affair by releasing partial, and heavily redacted, documents from the investigation.

"All of this is aimed at concealing things that, for one reason or another, Donald Trump does not want to make public, whether it be about himself, other members of his family, his friends, Jeffrey Epstein or simply the circle (...) that he has frequented for at least a decade," Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin criticized on CNN on Sunday.

After months of delays, the Trump administration began on Friday to release thousands of photos, videos and texts about this extremely wealthy financier and sex offender known for having associated with prominent figures, including the current president and his distant Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton.

But the entire file was not made public that day as stipulated by the law which gave rise to this effort of transparency, and many of the published files were heavily redacted, like one document entirely blacked out over 119 pages.

And a good dozen images were then removed from the file on Saturday, according to American media, reinforcing criticism from elected officials and victims, while the Department of Justice said it was continuing to analyze and purge these files "based on new information" received.

"The victims of this ordeal (...) deserve total and complete transparency," thundered Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, on ABC Sunday, calling for an investigation into possible failings by the administration.

A prominent figure in the New York jet set of the 1990s, Jeffrey Epstein is accused of sexually exploiting more than a thousand young women, including minors, and died in prison before being tried for these crimes.

This case, revealed in 2019, has implicated many American and foreign celebrities, including Andrew, brother of King Charles III, who was accused by one of the victims, but who proclaims his innocence.

Mr. Epstein's death in prison that same year, attributed to suicide by authorities, fueled countless conspiracy theories that he was assassinated to prevent him from implicating elites.

This scandal is now tainting the presidency of Donald Trump, who after initially supporting the release of the dossier reversed course before yielding to pressure from Congress, including elected officials from his own party.

The Republican, who swears he never knew anything about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and cut ties before he was investigated by the justice system, has not commented on the case since the documents were published on Friday, some of which concern him.