Congressional Democrats Release Newest Batch of Epstein Images as DOJ Cut-off Date Approaches
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The House Oversight Committee has made public a batch of roughly 70 photographs secured from the holdings of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
This marks the latest in a series of disclosure from a cache of more than 95,000 photographs the body has secured from Epstein's property. It features photographs of quotes from the literary work Lolita scrawled across a woman's body, and redacted pictures of women's foreign passports.
This disclosure arrives mere hours before the December 19th due date for the Justice Department to disclose all files connected to its investigation into Epstein.
"These new photographs bring up additional inquiries about exactly what the Justice Department has in its holdings," remarked the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.
What is in the Photographs Disclosed
Several of the photographs made public on recently feature Epstein conversing with professor and activist Noam Chomsky on a personal aircraft; Bill Gates standing next to a woman whose identity is obscured; Steve Bannon sitting at a table facing Epstein, and ex- Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner gathering.
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These are the latest high-net-worth, powerful men to be pictured in Epstein estate photographs disclosed by the oversight panel - previously published images also depict US President Donald Trump and ex-president Bill Clinton, as well as director Woody Allen, previous US Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and other figures.
Showing up in the photographs is is not considered evidence of any wrongdoing, and many of the pictured individuals have asserted they were never involved in Epstein's unlawful actions.
In a announcement released with the photograph disclosure, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee said the Epstein estate did not offer explanatory details or timings for the pictures.
"Photographs were selected to provide the general populace with openness into a typical cross-section of the photographs received from the holdings, and to provide understanding into Epstein's circle and his exceptionally alarming actions," the announcement reads.
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The release also features several photographs of quotes from the Vladimir Nabokov literary work Lolita written in dark ink across different parts of a woman's body, like her torso, foot, hipbone, and rear. Lolita recounts the account of a minor who was exploited by a middle-aged literature professor.
One excerpt from the book written across a female's upper body reads, "Lolita: the end of the tongue traveling of three steps down the mouth to land, at three, on the teeth".
The release also contains a number of images of women's identification and ID papers from nations around the world, such as Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.
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Most of the data on the documents, like identities and DOBs, is redacted but the House Oversight Committee stated in a announcement that the passports pertain to "women whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were involved with".
A further photo depicts Epstein sitting at a table in close proximity flanked by three women whose identities have been redacted - a first has her palm on Epstein's chest under his clothing, and another individual is crouching to look at a nearby device. Epstein can be seen to be assisting the third fasten a wristband.
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A further photograph made public is a screenshot of digital messages from an unidentified person who states they have been sent "several females" and are asking for "$$1,000 for each individual".
Photo Release Occurs Prior to DOJ Deadline
The panel has thousands of photos in its custody from the Epstein property, which are "at once explicit and mundane," its statement on Thursday noted.
The Congressional committee first legally compelled the estate of Epstein, who was found dead in a New York correctional facility in 2019 while pending legal proceedings on allegations of sex trafficking crimes, in August.
The images and records the Epstein property submitted to the committee are different than what is commonly referred to "the Epstein files". Those files are papers in the justice department's custody connected to its separate investigation into Epstein.
Pursuant to the recently passed law, which President Trump made law last month, the DOJ has a deadline of 19 December to disclose its documents. The scope of what is included in the DOJ's records is unknown, and it's probable that much of the content will be extensively obscured, comparable to House Oversight Committee materials