🔗 Share this article

Committee

The House Oversight Committee has published a batch of around 70 photos from the estate of former adjudicated individual convicted of sex crimes Jeffrey Epstein.

This represents the latest in a series of disclosure from a larger collection of over 95,000 photos the body has secured from Epstein's property. It features pictures of excerpts from the novel Lolita inscribed across a woman's body, and obscured photos of female international passports.

This disclosure arrives mere hours before the 19th of December due date for the Justice Department to release each records associated with its inquiry into Epstein.

"These latest photographs pose further inquiries about precisely what the Department of Justice has in its custody," said the senior Democrat of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What's in the Photos Released

A number of the images released on Thursday depict Epstein speaking with academic and activist Noam Chomsky on a private plane; Bill Gates seen alongside a individual whose face is obscured; Steve Bannon positioned at a table facing Epstein, and former Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.

Investigative Body

These are the newest wealthy, influential men to be pictured in Epstein property photos released by the House Oversight Committee - formerly disclosed photos also include 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 others.

Showing up in the photographs is does not constitute indication of any misconduct, and a number of the pictured men have said they were in no way involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a statement released with the photo publication, Lawmakers on the US House Oversight Committee stated the Epstein property holders did not offer context or timings for the pictures.

"Images were selected to furnish the general populace with clarity into a representative sample of the photos acquired from the estate, and to give perspectives into Epstein's circle and his profoundly troubling activities," the release reads.

Oversight Panel

The publication also features multiple images of excerpts from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita inscribed in dark ink across several locations of a female's body, like her torso, lower extremity, hip, and back. Lolita recounts the tale of a young girl who was exploited by a middle-aged literature professor.

A particular passage from the work scrawled across a female's torso reads, "Lo-lee-ta: the point of the tongue making a journey of three steps down the mouth to land, at three, on the teeth".

The release also contains a number of photographs of women's travel documents and official papers from nations around the world, like Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Oversight Panel

Most of the details on the papers, including identities and DOBs, is redacted but the panel stated in a announcement that the passports pertain to "females whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were involved with".

An additional photo shows Epstein sitting at a table intimately flanked by three individuals whose features have been obscured - one individual has her palm on Epstein's upper body under his shirt, and a second is crouching to examine a nearby laptop. Epstein seems to be helping the third put on a piece of jewelry.

Investigative Body

Another photograph released is a screenshot of text messages from an unknown person who claims they have been sent "some girls" and are asking for "$$1,000 per girl".

Photograph Disclosure Comes Before DOJ Cut-off

The body has thousands of photographs in its custody from the Epstein property, which are "at once disturbing and everyday," its announcement on Thursday clarified.

The House Oversight Committee first legally compelled the holdings of Epstein, who passed away in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, in August.

The images and records the Epstein property submitted to the body are distinct from what is often termed "the Epstein files". That material are documents under the justice department's control associated with its own probe into Epstein.

Under the recently passed law, which the President signed into law last month, the DOJ has until 19 December to disclose its files. The full nature of what is found in the DOJ's documents is unclear, and it's likely that a large amount of the content will be extensively redacted, similar to Congressional materials