This undated, redacted photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows former President Bill Clinton with an unknown person. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton featured prominently in the first batch of files released Friday by the Justice Department stemming from its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the White House seized the chance to shift the focus of the highly anticipated documents from President Donald Trump.

There were several photos of Clinton among the thousands of documents made public. Some showed him on a private plane, including one with a woman, whose face is redacted, seated alongside him with her arm around him. Another photo shows him in a pool with Epstein’s longtime confidant, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, and a person whose face was also redacted.

Another photo shows Clinton in a hot tub with a woman whose face was redacted. The files do not say when or where the photos were taken and there was little context surrounding them.

The 79-year-old Clinton’s political career has been marred by personal scandals in the past and his impeachment in 1998. His association with Epstein and Maxwell in the late 1990s and early 2000s is well documented and the images released Friday are just a slice of the “several hundred thousand” documents Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said are tied to the investigation.

But the photos depict a web of unsavory relationships and associations that complicate both Democratic efforts to keep the focus on Trump and the incumbent president’s desire to move on from the issue entirely.

After the photos were released, several White House officials, including press secretary Karoline Leavitt and top aide Steven Cheung, made social media posts highlighting them. Trump didn't talk about the issue as he left the White House late Friday on his way to deliver a speech in North Carolina.

Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and the mere inclusion of someone’s name or images in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise. In a statement, Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said the White House was “shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever.”

“They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn't about Bill Clinton,” Ureña said. “Never has been, never will be.”

Republicans have zeroed in on Clinton

Long before Friday's photos, Republicans had zeroed in on the former president and his association with Epstein.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed both Bill and Hillary Clinton for depositions earlier this year, but received a response that the Clintons wanted to provide a written statement of what “little information” they had on Epstein.

The Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, has demanded they appear for in-person testimonies and threatened to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings if they don’t.

Multiple former presidents have voluntarily testified before Congress, but none has been compelled to do so.

When Clinton was president, Epstein visited the White House multiple times, visitor logs show. After he left office, Epstein assisted with some of the former president’s philanthropy. Clinton flew multiple times on Epstein’s private jet, including on a humanitarian trip to Africa with actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker in 2002.

Clinton first ran for president in 1992 as a new type of Democrat, hailing from the South with an appeal that united his party's base along with moderate voters. He became the first Democrat in 16 years to win the White House and remains one of his party's most prominent figures. He had a prime-time speaking slot during last summer's Democratic National Convention in which he made a forceful case for Kamala Harris' candidacy.

But Clinton's ties to the Epstein case are a reminder of how his political promise has always been tempered by personal indiscretions.

His 1992 campaign was dogged by rumors of an affair with Gennifer Flowers, which he denied at this time. His presidency was rocked when he was impeached in 1998 for lying under oath and obstructing justice when he denied engaging in a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He ultimately acknowledged a relationship with Lewinsky that was “not appropriate” while insisting that “even presidents have private lives.”

Trump, whose 2016 campaign was nearly derailed when a tape emerged of him bragging about grabbing women by the genitals, has often deflected allegations of sexual misconduct by pointing to Clinton's behavior. But even Trump's top allies have questioned those claims. In an interview published by Vanity Fair this week, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said Trump “was wrong” in frequently suggesting the Epstein files included incriminating information about Clinton.

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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report

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