The State Department requested that Defense Distributed pull their 3D printer files because they might be in violation of ITAR regulations which prohibit distributing weapon blueprints and technical documentation overseas and they have complied, pulling all downloads. Forbes reports …

Wilson argues that he’s also legally protected. He says Defense Distributed is excluded from the ITAR regulations under an exemption for non-profit public domain releases of technical files designed to create a safe harbor for research and other public interest activities. That exemption, he says, would require Defense Distributed’s files to be stored in a library or sold in a bookstore. Wilson argues that Internet access at a library should qualify under ITAR’s statutes, and says that Defcad’s files have also been made available for sale in an Austin, Texas bookstore that he declined to name in order to protect the bookstore’s owner from scrutiny.

At the official* GitHub document repository the Liberator pistol model files are still available if you dig through the git repo history.

The project founder, in a video requested donations, claimed they would never take down any files … so much for that.

* The official repo’s contact information uses TorMail, meaning the person who administers the GitHub account cannot be traced, so nobody, including the State Department, can prove that the “official” repo is in fact official and not run by an unaffiliated third party.

Many thanks to noob and Phillip for the tip.