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Committee

The House Oversight Committee has released a collection of around 70 photographs obtained from the property of former convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

This represents the third such disclosure from a tranche of in excess of 95,000 photos the committee has acquired from Epstein's property. It features pictures of quotes from the novel Lolita scrawled across a woman's body, and obscured photos of women's overseas passports.

This release arrives hours before the 19th of December deadline for the Justice Department to release all files related to its inquiry into Epstein.

"These new photos pose additional queries about exactly what the Justice Department has in its holdings," said the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What's in the Images Released

A number of the images released on recently show Epstein speaking with professor and activist Noam Chomsky on a private plane; Bill Gates standing beside a individual whose features is censored; Steve Bannon seated at a table across from Epstein, and ex- Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a evening meal.

Oversight Panel

These are the most recent affluent, powerful men to be seen in Epstein property photographs released by the committee - previously disclosed pictures also include US President Donald Trump and ex-president Bill Clinton, as well as movie director Woody Allen, ex- US treasury secretary Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and additional individuals.

Appearing in the images is does not constitute indication of any illegal activity, and several of the featured figures have said they were in no way involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a statement issued alongside the image publication, Democratic members on the US House Oversight Committee stated the Epstein property holders did not offer explanatory details or timings for the images.

"Photos were selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos acquired from the holdings, and to offer understanding into Epstein's circle and his extremely troubling actions," the statement says.

Committee

The disclosure also contains several images of quotes from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita inscribed in ink across several locations of a female's body, including her upper body, foot, hip, and rear. Lolita tells the story of a adolescent who was manipulated by a adult literature professor.

An example of a excerpt from the book inscribed across a woman's torso says, "Lolita's name: the point of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to land, at three, on the teeth".

The release also contains a collection of photos of women's passports and identification documents from countries globally, including Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Investigative Body

The majority of the details on the IDs, including identities and DOBs, is redacted but the committee indicated in a statement that the passports are associated with "individuals whom Jeffrey Epstein and his associates were involved with".

Another photograph shows Epstein positioned at a table in close proximity flanked by three female figures whose identities have been censored - one has her hand on Epstein's chest under his garment, and a second is crouching to view a adjacent laptop. Epstein appears to be helping the third attach a wristband.

Investigative Body

Another image disclosed is a screenshot of text messages from an unidentified individual who states they have been supplied "several females" and are requesting "$one thousand dollars for each individual".

Photo Release Arrives Ahead of DOJ Deadline

The committee has thousands of images in its holdings from the Epstein estate, which are "both graphic and ordinary," its announcement on this week clarified.

The House Oversight Committee first legally compelled the estate of Epstein, who passed away in a New York jail in 2019 while pending legal proceedings on allegations of sex trafficking, in August.

The photos and files the Epstein property provided to the committee are separate from what is largely called "Epstein-related records". Those are documents within the justice department's control related to its independent inquiry into Epstein.

In accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump enacted recently, the DOJ has until the date of 19 December to release its documents. The scope of what is included in the DOJ's records is unknown, and it's expected that a large amount of the material will be significantly redacted, akin to the committee's documents