🔗 Share this article

Oversight Panel

The House investigative committee has made public a batch of roughly 70 photos obtained from the property of late convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

This represents the latest in a series of publication from a tranche of in excess of 95,000 photographs the panel has secured from Epstein's holdings. It includes photographs of passages from the novel Lolita written across a woman's body, and redacted photos of women's overseas passports.

This release arrives hours before the 19 December deadline for the DOJ to release all records connected to its inquiry into Epstein.

"These photos bring up further inquiries about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its custody," said the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What's in the Photos Made Public

Several of the photos made public on Thursday feature Epstein in discussion with academic and activist Noam Chomsky inside a private plane; Bill Gates seen next to a individual whose face is censored; Steve Bannon positioned at a table opposite Epstein, and ex- Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner gathering.

Committee

These are the most recent high-net-worth, influential figures to be photographed in Epstein's estate photos published by the committee - formerly published pictures also show US President Donald Trump and past president Bill Clinton, as well as movie director Woody Allen, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and others.

Showing up in the images is does not constitute proof of any wrongdoing, and many of the featured figures have stated they were never involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a announcement accompanying the image publication, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee noted the Epstein estate did not offer explanatory details or timings for the pictures.

"Photos were picked to offer the American people with transparency into a typical cross-section of the photos received from the property, and to give understanding into Epstein's circle and his profoundly troubling actions," the release reads.

Oversight Panel

The publication also features several images of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita written in black ink across various areas of a woman's body, like her chest, feet, hip, and rear. Lolita recounts the story of a young girl who was manipulated by a middle-aged literature professor.

A particular passage from the book scrawled across a woman's chest reads, "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the mouth to tap, at three, on the teeth".

The release also contains a number of images of women's passports and official papers from countries worldwide, such as Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Oversight Panel

A large portion of the details on the papers, such as names and birth dates, is obscured but the panel stated in a announcement that the travel documents pertain to "women whom Jeffrey Epstein and his associates were interacting with".

Another image shows Epstein sitting at a desk closely in the company of three individuals whose identities have been obscured - one individual has her palm on Epstein's chest under his garment, and a second is leaning to view a adjacent computer. Epstein can be seen to be aiding the third individual attach a bracelet.

Oversight Panel

Another photo released is a image of text messages from an unnamed individual who says they have been supplied "several females" and are asking for "$$1,000 for each individual".

Image Release Arrives Before DOJ Deadline

The body has many thousands of images in its custody from the Epstein estate, which are "both disturbing and ordinary," its statement on Thursday noted.

The Congressional committee first issued a subpoena to the estate of Epstein, who was found dead in a New York correctional facility in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking crimes, in August.

The photographs and documents the Epstein property provided to the panel are separate from what is commonly termed "the Epstein documents". Those are records in the justice department's control associated with its independent investigation into Epstein.

Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which the President enacted recently, the DOJ has until the date of 19 December to publish its files. The extent of what is found in the DOJ's documents is unknown, and it's likely that a significant portion of the content will be significantly censored, similar to the committee's materials