New Epstein Photos Surface as Pressure Builds on DOJ

News Desk

US House Democrats on Thursday released dozens of additional photographs recovered from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, intensifying public scrutiny as the Justice Department approaches a court-mandated deadline to disclose its long-withheld files on the disgraced financier.

The images are part of a massive trove—more than 95,000 photographs—obtained by the House Oversight Committee after issuing a subpoena for materials Epstein possessed before his death in a New York jail in 2019. Lawmakers say the latest release is aimed at shedding light on Epstein’s social network and activities, not to allege criminal wrongdoing by those depicted.

The disclosures come as pressure mounts on the Justice Department, which under a recently enacted law signed by President Donald Trump is required to release its case files related to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell by Friday. Anticipation around the files has grown amid years of conspiracy theories and questions surrounding Epstein’s ties to powerful political, business, and royal figures.

Among the newly released photographs are images showing Epstein socializing with prominent individuals, including billionaire Bill Gates, political activist and academic Noam Chomsky, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. The batch also includes photos from a 2011 dinner attended by wealthy philanthropists and public figures.

House Democrats have previously released images featuring Trump, former president Bill Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew, whose relationship with Epstein led to intense scrutiny and the loss of his royal titles and privileges.

The latest set of photos also contains disturbing material, including close-up images of text from Lolita—a novel centered on the sexual exploitation of a child—written across a woman’s body, as well as photographs of passports and identification documents from multiple countries.

Faces of women and girls appearing in some images were blacked out, and lawmakers said all identifying details that could reveal victims’ identities were redacted.

Democrats on the committee said the photographs were selected to provide a “representative sample” of Epstein’s collection and to offer insight into what they described as his “extremely disturbing activities.”

Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said the new release raises further questions about what evidence remains in government custody. He accused the administration of withholding information and called for the immediate release of the Justice Department’s Epstein files.

The White House pushed back, saying the photo release does not change the administration’s position. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said President Trump has consistently supported transparency on the Epstein matter and that his administration has complied with legal requirements.

As the deadline for the Justice Department’s disclosures approaches, the latest images are likely to fuel renewed debate over Epstein’s reach, accountability for his crimes, and the extent of what authorities knew—and still know—about his network. Input from AP webiste.