Lawmakers Unveil Newest Set of Jeffrey Epstein Photos as DOJ Cut-off Date Approaches
Oversight Panel
The Congressional oversight panel has published a set of approximately 70 photographs obtained from the property of former adjudicated individual convicted of sex crimes Jeffrey Epstein.
This constitutes the third release from a larger collection of over 95,000 images the body has acquired from Epstein's holdings. It features pictures of quotes from the book Lolita scrawled across a woman's body, and redacted images of women's foreign passports.
This release comes just hours before the December 19th cut-off for the DOJ to disclose every documents associated with its probe into Epstein.
"These new photos raise further questions about precisely what the Department of Justice has in its possession," said the ranking member of the committee, Robert Garcia.
What is in the Photos Made Public
Some of the photographs released on Thursday show Epstein conversing with professor and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a private jet; Bill Gates positioned next to a individual whose face is censored; Steve Bannon sitting at a workstation facing Epstein, and previous Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a evening meal.
Committee
These are the most recent wealthy, prominent figures to be photographed in Epstein's estate images published by the oversight panel - previously released photos also show US President Donald Trump and past president Bill Clinton, as well as movie director Woody Allen, previous US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and additional individuals.
Appearing in the photographs is is not considered evidence of any illegal activity, and a number of the photographed men have said they were in no way involved in Epstein's illegal activity.
In a announcement accompanying the image disclosure, Lawmakers on the US House Oversight Committee stated the Epstein property holders did not provide explanatory details or dates for the pictures.
"Photographs were selected to provide the American people with transparency into a illustrative selection of the photos acquired from the holdings, and to offer insights into Epstein's associates and his extremely alarming actions," the announcement says.
Investigative Body
The disclosure also features multiple images of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita penned in ink across various areas of a female's body, including her torso, feet, pelvis, and back. Lolita tells the story of a young girl who was groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.
An example of a quote from the novel written across a female's upper body reads, "Lolita: the point of the tongue traveling of three steps down the mouth to land, at three, on the teeth".
There are also a collection of images of women's passports and official papers from states around the world, such as Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.
Oversight Panel
The majority of the information on the documents, like names and birth dates, is censored but the committee indicated in a announcement that the travel documents are associated with "females whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were engaging".
A further photograph shows Epstein sitting at a workstation in close proximity surrounded by three women whose identities have been obscured - one has her hand on Epstein's torso under his shirt, and a second is crouching to examine a close-by computer. Epstein seems to be assisting the third individual attach a bracelet.
Oversight Panel
An additional image made public is a screenshot of text messages from an unknown individual who states they have been supplied "some girls" and are requesting "$one thousand dollars per girl".
Photograph Publication Occurs Prior to DOJ Deadline
The body has many thousands of photos in its possession from the Epstein holdings, which are "both explicit and mundane," its press release on recently noted.
The Congressional committee first subpoenaed the estate of Epstein, who was found dead in a New York correctional facility in 2019 while pending legal proceedings on charges of human trafficking, in August.
The photographs and documents the Epstein property submitted to the body are distinct from what is largely called "Epstein-related records". Those files are papers in the Department of Justice's control associated with its independent probe into Epstein.
Pursuant to the Transparency Act, which President Trump made law last month, the DOJ has until 19 December to release its documents. The full nature of what is contained in the DOJ's files is unclear, and it's expected that much of the information will be heavily obscured, similar to House Oversight Committee documents