Back-to-back batches of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have been released, revealing private details from the convicted peadophile’s life and his ties to the rich and powerful.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released 19 photos on Friday morning and then later published nearly 80 more, which they said are part of more than 95,000 images the US congressional committee has received from Epstein’s estate after a subpoena.
The photos include never-before-seen images of Epstein on his private island and pictures of him with high-profile figures like US President Donald Trump.
The US justice department is approaching a deadline next week to release all Epstein-related documents.
The justice department mandate is separate from the files being released by Congress, which is conducting its own investigation into the Epstein case and has been asking his estate for documents and images as part of the probe.
The justice department has until 19 December to release all documents related to the Epstein case. That deadline comes from a bill passed by Congress and signed by Trump last month following months of pressure from his Maga – Make America Great Again – base.
Despite that legal requirement for the justice department, committee Democrats said on Friday: “In the interest of transparency, we will continue to release photos from the Epstein estate.”
The release on Friday marked the second time in a month that the committee has published new images from its investigation into Epstein. These new photos include private images of Epstein, including one of him in a bathtub and another that appears to show sexual toys. They also show him with powerful people, including former President Bill Clinton and tech billionaire Bill Gates.
Epstein’s connection to so many high-profile figures, along with various unanswered questions about the case, and his 2019 suicide in a Manhattan jail as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges, has fuelled online conspiracies and accusations of a government cover-up.
No additional context or details were included with the newly released images, so it is not clear when, why or where many of the photos were taken or by whom. Merely being pictured in files related Epstein is not an indication of wrongdoing.
In the first batch of photos released on Friday, Epstein is seen with multiple high-profile figures, none of whom have yet commented. Many of them have previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
In a statement, Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the congressional committee, said: “It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends.”
“These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW,” he added.
Republicans, who are in the majority on the committee, have accused Democrats of “cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump”.
The White House called the release a “Democrat hoax” against Trump that has been “repeatedly debunked”. Trump had for months argued the Epstein saga was a distraction orchestrated by his critics to take attention away from his administration’s accomplishments.
Trump had been pressuring Republicans to move on but failed to keep his party from approving a measure forcing the justice department to release all files in the investigation.
Trump was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the investigations into his former friend.
According to Trump, the pair fell out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested. The White House has also suggested that their fallout was connected to Epstein’s behaviour, and that Trump booted him from his Florida resort for “being a creep”.
Trump appeared in three of the images released on Friday. One image showed him standing next to a woman whose face has been redacted.
Another showed Trump standing next to Epstein while talking to model Ingrid Seynhaeve at a 1997 Victoria’s Secret party in New York – an image that was already publicly available.
A third photo showed Trump smiling with several women, whose faces have also been redacted, flanked on either side of him.
An additional photo showed an illustrated likeness of the president on red packets next to a sign that reads: “Trump Condom”.
Among the photos released on Friday were some that had already been in the public domain for several years.
One such image was a cropped section of a picture originally taken by a photographer working for Getty Images in 2018, which showed King Charles in conversation with the tech billionaire at a London summit.
The image contained in Epstein’s collection was cropped to show only Andrew and Gates. It’s unclear why Epstein had the image or why it was included in his estate.
Andrew, who has faced years of scrutiny over his past relationship with Epstein, was stripped of his “prince” title and left his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, earier this year. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was also pictured in some of the images. He was shown speaking with Epstein at a desk, and in another, standing beside him in front of a mirror.
A third image showed him speaking with filmmaker Woody Allen.
A photo featuring former US President Bill Clinton’s showed him standing next to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in facilitating the disgraced financier’s abuse.
Two other people the BBC has yet to identify are also in the image, which appeared to have been signed by Clinton.
Clinton has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. In 2019, a spokesperson said he “knows nothing about the terrible crimes” Epstein pleaded guilty to.
Other prominent figures which appear in the images include US economist Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz and entrepreneur Richard Branson. Not all the images show those individuals in the company of Epstein.
Also in the newly released photos are images from Epstein’s sunny estate on the US Virgin Islands, showing multiple rooms – including one with a dental chair surrounded by sculptures of moustached men on the walls.
There is an image of an orange pumpkin with a blonde wig that has been carved in the likeness of Trump. Above it, a sign reads: “Trumpkin. Make Halloween Great Again.”
On Friday, Trump was asked about the new photos and told reporters that a lot of people knew and were photographed with Epstein, calling the release “no big deal”.
By BBC News
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