On Thursday, Democrats serving on the House Oversight Committee unveiled a series of photographs from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, sparking renewed political intrigue regarding potential associations with the infamous sex offender.
The release consisted of five photographs, presented without context by the committee members. Among them are a Ukrainian passport indicating a female holder, an image of philosopher Noam Chomsky aboard an aircraft with Epstein, and a photograph featuring Bill Gates alongside a woman, whose face has been obscured by the committee.
Additionally, the released images include a screenshot of a text exchange where individuals discuss the procurement of girls.
In the text conversation, one person states, “I don’t know try to send someone else. I have a friend scout she sent me some girls today. But she asks 1000$ per girl. I will send u girls now. Maybe someone will be good for J?” It includes a detailed description, noting the girl’s age as “18 y old,” along with her height, measurements, weight, and details regarding the Schengen area and a “departure city.” While many specifics are redacted, the age, a checkmark next to Schengen, and a mention of Russia remain visible.
No additional context accompanies this conversation, leaving the identities of the participants in the exchange unknown.
A fifth image features a woman’s foot with a quote from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita,” a controversial story centered on a man’s sexual fixation with a 12-year-old girl, inscribed on it.
It was not immediately clear when or where they were taken, or by whom.
Democrats noted the estate did not provide any context around the images shared with the committee and said they have publicised them as they were received, aside from their redactions. Democrats have chosen which photos to release since the panel received more than 95,000 images from the estate last week that lawmakers are still combing through.
The members of the panel have said with each release that they’ve redacted any personally identifiable information of victims and survivors, or if it is unknown whether a person pictured is a victim of Epstein’s abuse.
Oversight Democrats have released portions of the photos turned over to the committee from Epstein’s estate last week, while the Republican-led panel has typically released documents and images in single drops once lawmakers have gone through them in full. Republicans on the committee have accused Democratic members of “cherry-picking” images to paint a specific narrative.
“Oversight Democrats will continue to release photographs and documents from the Epstein estate to provide transparency for the American people,” Ranking Member Robert Garcia said in a statement.
“As we approach the deadline for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession. We must end this White House cover-up, and the DOJ must release the Epstein files now.”
Previous photos from Epstein’s estate released by Democrats have depicted the late financier’s private island and the many powerful figures in his orbit.
Gates and Chomsky have previously reported to have known Epstein, as well as have been pictured in previous images from the estate. CNN has reached out to representatives for each men.
A spokesperson for Gates has before repeatedly denied that Epstein ever worked for him. Gates has previously said he regrets meeting with Epstein, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2021: “It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there.”
Chomsky has previously declined CNN requests for comment. He is known to have once wrote a letter of recommendation for Epstein, spoken with Epstein about science and philosophy, and was invited by Epstein stay at one of his homes in 2015.
The Republican-led committee obtained the images from Epstein’s estate as part of its ongoing investigation. The panel has so far released tens of thousands of documents, emails and communications that it received from the Epstein estate.
In a letter to the committee, lawyers for the estate noted that they could review videos and photographs they had requested “taken at any property owned, rented, operated, or used by Epstein from January 1, 1990 through August 10, 2019”.
While the committee has said the obtained documents have continued to open new lines of investigative inquiry, the slow-rolling disclosures from Capitol Hill have been at times downright painful for many of Epstein’s victims.
In a recent interview with CNN, a group of survivors said not knowing when â and what â might be coming out on any given day has been a stressful experience. They also said that some of the releases so far have triggered recollections of their trauma going back years.
Hundreds of victims believed to have been abused by Epstein are currently also bracing for the Justice Department’s release of its Epstein files â a disclosure widely expected to be greater in breadth and scope than anything that has come out thus far.
But the DOJ, which faces a Friday deadline to make its investigative files public under a law passed by Congress last month, has not publicly detailed the specific timing or parameters of its upcoming release, and the survivors who spoke with CNN said they had not received any outreach from the department to discuss it.
