Lawmakers Disclose Latest Batch of Epstein Photos as Justice Department Deadline Looms

Committee

The Congressional oversight panel has released a batch of around 70 photos obtained from the property of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

This constitutes the third such disclosure from a tranche of more than 95,000 photos the panel has obtained from Epstein's estate. It contains images of quotes from the book Lolita inscribed across a female's body, and redacted photos of female international passports.

This release comes mere hours before the 19 December due date for the DOJ to make public all documents associated with its inquiry into Epstein.

"These photos pose more questions about precisely what the Department of Justice has in its possession," said the ranking member of the panel, Robert Garcia.

Contents in the Photos Released

A number of the photographs released on this week show Epstein speaking with academic and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a private jet; Bill Gates standing beside a woman whose face is obscured; Steve Bannon positioned at a table across from Epstein, and former Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.

Investigative Body

These are the latest high-net-worth, influential figures to be pictured in Epstein estate images released by the committee - previously disclosed images also depict US President Donald Trump and past president Bill Clinton, as well as director Woody Allen, previous US treasury secretary Larry Summers, counsel Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and other figures.

Appearing in the photos is not evidence of any misconduct, and several of the photographed figures have asserted they were not implicated in Epstein's unlawful actions.

In a announcement released with the photo publication, Democratic members on the US House Oversight Committee stated the Epstein property holders did not supply explanatory details or timings for the images.

"Images were chosen to provide the general populace with transparency into a typical cross-section of the photos received from the estate, and to provide insights into Epstein's circle and his profoundly troubling actions," the release reads.

Oversight Panel

The release also features multiple photographs of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita penned in dark ink across various areas of a woman's body, including her chest, foot, hip, and spine. Lolita recounts the account of a young girl who was manipulated by a middle-aged literature professor.

A particular excerpt from the book scrawled across a female's chest states, "Lo-lee-ta: the end of the tongue making a journey of three steps down the mouth to land, at three, on the teeth".

The release also contains a collection of images of female passports and identification documents from states around the world, including Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Investigative Body

A large portion of the information on the documents, like identities and DOBs, is obscured but the panel said in a press release that the passports are associated with "females whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were engaging".

A further photograph depicts Epstein positioned at a workstation in close proximity surrounded by three female figures whose features have been redacted - one has her palm on Epstein's torso under his shirt, and another is bending to look at a adjacent laptop. Epstein seems to be helping the third attach a wristband.

Committee

Another photo released is a capture of text messages from an unidentified person who says they have been supplied "some girls" and are requesting "$$1,000 per female".

Image Release Occurs Ahead of DOJ Cut-off

The committee has a vast number of images in its custody from the Epstein holdings, which are "both disturbing and mundane," its announcement on Thursday noted.

The Congressional committee first subpoenaed the property of Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 while facing trial on charges of human trafficking, in August.

The photos and documents the Epstein estate gave to the body are separate from what is largely called "the Epstein files". Those files are papers in the justice department's possession related to its independent inquiry into Epstein.

In accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which the President enacted last month, the DOJ has a deadline of 19 December to publish its records. The full nature of what is included in the DOJ's documents is not publicly known, and it's probable that a large amount of the information will be significantly redacted, similar to the committee's materials