Democrats Release Latest Set of Epstein Photographs as Department of Justice Time Limit Nears
Committee
The House Oversight Committee has released a set of roughly 70 photos obtained from the property of former convicted individual convicted of sex crimes Jeffrey Epstein.
This represents the third such release from a larger collection of in excess of 95,000 images the body has secured from Epstein's property. It features photographs of excerpts from the literary work Lolita scrawled across a woman's body, and redacted photos of female international passports.
This release arrives just hours before the 19 December deadline for the DOJ to make public every records connected to its probe into Epstein.
"These latest photographs bring up additional questions about precisely what the Department of Justice has in its possession," stated the senior Democrat of the committee, Robert Garcia.
What's in the Photos Disclosed
Some of the photos released on recently show Epstein speaking with academic and activist Noam Chomsky inside a personal aircraft; Bill Gates standing beside a female whose features is redacted; Steve Bannon sitting at a table opposite Epstein, and former Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.
Investigative Body
These are the most recent wealthy, powerful men to be seen in Epstein estate photos published by the oversight panel - formerly released photos also include US President Donald Trump and past president Bill Clinton, as well as director Woody Allen, former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and other figures.
Being pictured in the images is is not considered proof of any wrongdoing, and many of the pictured individuals have said they were in no way involved in Epstein's illegal activity.
In a press release accompanying the photo disclosure, Democratic members on the US House Oversight Committee noted the Epstein property holders did not provide context or dates for the pictures.
"Images were chosen to offer the American people with transparency into a typical cross-section of the photographs obtained from the estate, and to provide perspectives into Epstein's associates and his extremely troubling activities," the release reads.
Committee
The publication also includes a number of photographs of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov literary work Lolita written in dark ink across various areas of a female's body, such as her torso, feet, hipbone, and rear. Lolita narrates the tale of a young girl who was groomed by a adult literature professor.
An example of a excerpt from the novel scrawled across a woman's torso says, "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue traveling of three steps down the roof of the mouth to tap, at three, on the teeth".
There are also a collection of photos of women's identification and official papers from states around the world, such as Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.
Investigative Body
The majority of the details on the documents, such as identities and dates of birth, is censored but the panel indicated in a press release that the passports are associated with "females whom Jeffrey Epstein and his associates were engaging".
A further photograph shows Epstein positioned at a desk in close proximity flanked by three individuals whose identities have been obscured - one has her hand on Epstein's chest under his shirt, and a second is leaning to view a adjacent laptop. Epstein appears to be assisting the third attach a piece of jewelry.
Committee
A further image disclosed is a screenshot of digital messages from an unnamed individual who says they have been sent "a number of girls" and are demanding "$one thousand dollars per girl".
Image Publication Occurs Before DOJ Due Date
The body has many thousands of photos in its custody from the Epstein holdings, which are "simultaneously graphic and everyday," its announcement on Thursday explained.
The House Oversight Committee first subpoenaed the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York correctional facility in 2019 while awaiting trial on accusations of human trafficking, in August.
The images and records the Epstein estate gave to the body are different than what is often called "the Epstein files". That material are documents under the DOJ's custody related to its independent investigation into Epstein.
Pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which the President signed into law in November, the DOJ has until the date of 19 December to disclose its records. The full nature of what is included in the DOJ's documents is unclear, and it's expected that a significant portion of the information will be significantly redacted, comparable to Congressional releases