🔗 Share this article

Investigative Body

The House investigative committee has made public a batch of around 70 images from the estate of deceased adjudicated sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

This marks the third such release from a larger collection of in excess of 95,000 photos the panel has secured from Epstein's estate. It includes pictures of quotes from the novel Lolita written across a female's body, and redacted pictures of women's foreign passports.

This release comes just hours before the 19 December cut-off for the DOJ to release all records associated with its probe into Epstein.

"These new photographs bring up additional queries about what exactly the DOJ has in its possession," said the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What is in the Photos Released

Some of the photos made public on recently feature Epstein conversing with professor and activist Noam Chomsky inside a private plane; Bill Gates seen next to a female whose features is censored; Steve Bannon sitting at a desk across from Epstein, and ex- Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.

Oversight Panel

These are the newest high-net-worth, influential individuals to be pictured in Epstein property photos disclosed by the oversight panel - earlier published photos also include US President Donald Trump and ex-president Bill Clinton, as well as movie director Woody Allen, ex- US Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, counsel Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and others.

Being pictured in the images is is not considered indication of any misconduct, and many of the photographed figures have asserted they were never involved in Epstein's criminal activity.

In a statement accompanying the image release, Lawmakers on the US House Oversight Committee said the Epstein estate did not supply explanatory details or timings for the images.

"Photographs were selected to furnish the general populace with openness into a typical cross-section of the photos received from the estate, and to offer understanding into Epstein's associates and his exceptionally alarming activities," the release says.

Oversight Panel

The disclosure also features multiple images of quotes from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita written in dark ink across several locations of a female's body, like her upper body, feet, pelvis, and rear. Lolita recounts the tale of a minor who was groomed by a older literature professor.

One passage from the novel written across a female's chest says, "Lolita's name: the point of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the mouth to tap, at three, on the teeth".

There are also a collection of photographs of women's identification and official papers from nations worldwide, including Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Committee

A large portion of the information on the IDs, such as identities and DOBs, is obscured but the House Oversight Committee said in a announcement that the passports pertain to "individuals whom Jeffrey Epstein and his associates were engaging".

A further photograph shows Epstein positioned at a workstation in close proximity in the company of three women whose faces have been censored - one has her hand on Epstein's chest under his clothing, and another is bending to look at a close-by laptop. Epstein can be seen to be assisting the third individual fasten a bracelet.

Oversight Panel

Another photo released is a screenshot of digital messages from an unidentified sender who claims they have been provided "some girls" and are asking for "$one thousand dollars per female".

Image Disclosure Occurs Before DOJ Cut-off

The committee has a vast number of photos in its possession from the Epstein estate, which are "at once graphic and everyday," its press release on this week explained.

The Congressional committee first issued a subpoena to the property of Epstein, who passed away in a New York prison in 2019 while facing trial on accusations of sex trafficking, in August.

The photographs and files the Epstein estate's representatives provided to the panel are different than what is commonly called "the Epstein files". That material are documents under the justice department's possession associated with its separate investigation into Epstein.

In accordance with the recently passed law, which the President made law recently, the DOJ has until 19 December to publish its files. The scope of what is included in the DOJ's files is unclear, and it's likely that a large amount of the content will be extensively redacted, akin to House Oversight Committee documents