The Department of Justice has some explaining to do! It's no secret that the release of the Epstein files has been a mess. Redactions have been all over the place - with powerful men being protected and survivors getting unjustly exposed. And now, the DOJ is yet again in the hot seat for removing an image that showed Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hanging with Jeffrey Epstein on his private island! Per CBS News, the image was originally posted to the DOJ's website last month under file No. EFTA01230639, but was suddenly removed - long enough for people to realize it was missing - before it was restored on Thursday night after they got a ton of backlash. The photo shows Howard, Jeffrey, and three other men checking out an oceanside cliff on the island. Related: Jimmy Kimmel BLASTS 'Nut Job Wannabe King' Donald Trump The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine was first able to download the image on January 31. It was also archived by Jmail, a platform that archives Epstein content. At some point after the file originally dropped, it was removed from the DOJ's website and replaced with a "Page not found" message. Interestingly, just hours after CBS News published a story about it being gone, it was restored! Guess they didn't like being caught red-handed! Check it out: Lutnick is in the blue shirt / (c) Department of Justice The Commerce Department has not commented on the situation yet, but the DOJ's spokesperson told CNN: "This image was part of a batch of files that were flagged for nudity. The batch of thousands of images was pulled for review and is being uploaded with necessary redactions on a rolling basis. No files are being deleted." Hmmm. Y'all buying that?? Sooo, why does this even matter? Well, Jeffrey and Howard have a long history - one that Howard lied about in public. Emails revealed in the Epstein files show that in 2012, Howard, his wife, and their four children actually planned a trip to visit the sex offender's island, Little St. James. And remember, this was after his first conviction in 2008, when he pleaded guilty to procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. Even with that icky conviction, the Lutnick family went to visit him! Howard was invited for lunch on December 24, 2012, and Epstein's assistant later reached out on his behalf, saying: "It was nice seeing you." The government official testified in front of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about his relationship to the financier earlier this month, sharing: "We had lunch on the island, that is true, for an hour. Then we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife all together. We were on family vacation. We were not apart. To suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012, I don't recall why we did it. But we did." He also insisted he had "nothing to hide - absolutely nothing." While Lutnick hasn't been accused of wrongdoing when it comes to Epstein, he has been caught lying about their connection. Why? He previously said on a podcast that he'd stopped communicating with Jeffrey in 2005 - but docs show they were in close touch, and not just because of that visit. In 2014 and for several years after, they communicated about their now-shuttered advertising company, Adfin. The most recent interactions about the company came in late 2018. Lutnick also reached out to Epstein that same year to complain about an art museum expansion plan that was set to ruin their views, seeing as they were neighbors in New York City. Epstein ultimately "died by suicide" in 2019 while in jail on federal sex trafficking charges. Soooo, this man was speaking to the felon up until a year before he passed. Very different than claiming to have cut him off before he was ever convicted! Jeez. Many lawmakers are now demanding a full look into Howard's ties to Epstein. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican member of the House Oversight Committee, even called for Lutnick to testify in front of the committee! He's testified before, so it seems like maybe he'd be willing? We'll see what happens... [Image via MEGA/WENN & Department of Justice] The post Trump's Commerce Secretary Photographed On Epstein's Island -- And The DOJ Removed It From Epstein Files! Then Restored It AFTER Backlash! appeared first on Perez Hilton.