Congressional Democrats Release Latest Batch of Epstein Photos as DOJ Cut-off Date Approaches
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The House Oversight Committee has made public a set of approximately 70 photographs from the estate of former adjudicated individual convicted of sex crimes Jeffrey Epstein.
This constitutes the third such disclosure from a larger collection of more than 95,000 photos the body has acquired from Epstein's estate. It contains images of quotes from the novel Lolita inscribed across a woman's body, and obscured images of women's international passports.
This disclosure occurs hours before the December 19th due date for the Justice Department to disclose each documents associated with its inquiry into Epstein.
"These new images bring up more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its custody," stated the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.
Contents in the Images Disclosed
Some of the images released on recently show Epstein conversing with academic and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a personal aircraft; Bill Gates seen beside a female whose face is censored; Steve Bannon positioned at a desk across from Epstein, and previous Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner gathering.
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These are the most recent wealthy, influential individuals to be pictured in Epstein's estate photographs disclosed by the committee - earlier published images also depict US President Donald Trump and past president Bill Clinton, as well as director Woody Allen, ex- US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and additional individuals.
Appearing in the photographs is does not constitute proof of any wrongdoing, and a number of the featured figures have said they were never implicated in Epstein's illegal activity.
In a announcement accompanying the image release, Democratic members on the US House Oversight Committee stated the Epstein property holders did not provide context or timeframes for the pictures.
"Images were selected to furnish the general populace with openness into a representative sample of the photos received from the holdings, and to offer understanding into Epstein's network and his extremely troubling behavior," the announcement states.
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The release also features a number of photos of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita inscribed in black ink across various areas of a female's body, like her upper body, feet, hip, and back. Lolita tells the story of a young girl who was manipulated by a adult literature professor.
An example of a excerpt from the book inscribed across a female's torso says, "Lolita's name: the point of the tongue traveling of three steps down the roof of the mouth to alight, at three, on the teeth".
There are also a series of photographs of women's identification and ID papers from countries worldwide, like Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.
Oversight Panel
The majority of the information on the documents, including identities and DOBs, is censored but the House Oversight Committee said in a statement that the travel documents pertain to "individuals whom Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators were engaging".
A further photograph features Epstein seated at a workstation in close proximity flanked by three female figures whose identities have been obscured - one has her palm on Epstein's torso under his garment, and another individual is leaning to examine a adjacent computer. Epstein can be seen to be helping the third individual put on a piece of jewelry.
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Another photograph made public is a capture of text messages from an unnamed individual who states they have been provided "several females" and are requesting "$one thousand dollars per girl".
Photograph Publication Arrives Prior to DOJ Cut-off
The committee has many thousands of photographs in its custody from the Epstein estate, which are "both explicit and ordinary," its statement on this week clarified.
The House Oversight Committee first issued a subpoena to the property of Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, in August.
The photographs and files the Epstein estate's representatives gave to the body are distinct from what is often called "Epstein-related records". That material are papers within the Department of Justice's control connected to its own probe into Epstein.
Pursuant to the recently passed law, which President Trump enacted last month, the DOJ has until 19 December to disclose its documents. The extent of what's included in the DOJ's documents is not publicly known, and it's likely that a significant portion of the information will be heavily redacted, similar to House Oversight Committee materials