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Committee

The Congressional oversight panel has published a batch of roughly 70 photos obtained from the property of deceased convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

This marks the third disclosure from a larger collection of more than 95,000 images the panel has secured from Epstein's holdings. It contains photographs of quotes from the novel Lolita scrawled across a woman's body, and censored photos of women's overseas passports.

This disclosure occurs mere hours before the 19 December due date for the Department of Justice to disclose each files related to its investigation into Epstein.

"These new images raise further inquiries about precisely what the Department of Justice has in its custody," said the ranking member of the panel, Robert Garcia.

What is in the Photos Disclosed

Some of the photos made public on Thursday show Epstein conversing with professor and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a personal aircraft; Bill Gates standing alongside a woman whose face is censored; Steve Bannon seated at a table opposite Epstein, and previous Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.

Committee

These are the latest wealthy, prominent figures to be pictured in Epstein property photographs released by the committee - earlier disclosed photos also depict US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton, as well as director Woody Allen, ex- US treasury secretary Larry Summers, counsel Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and additional individuals.

Being pictured in the photos is does not constitute proof of any wrongdoing, and several of the pictured individuals have stated they were not implicated in Epstein's criminal activity.

In a press release issued alongside the photo disclosure, Lawmakers on the US House Oversight Committee noted the Epstein estate did not supply context or timings for the pictures.

"Photographs were chosen to furnish the American people with transparency into a typical cross-section of the images acquired from the property, and to offer understanding into Epstein's associates and his extremely alarming actions," the announcement states.

Committee

The disclosure also includes several photographs of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita written in black ink across several locations of a female's body, like her upper body, foot, pelvis, and rear. Lolita recounts the story of a minor who was groomed by a older literature professor.

A particular quote from the novel scrawled across a woman's torso says, "Lolita: the end of the tongue traveling of three steps down the mouth to tap, at three, on the teeth".

The release also contains a collection of photos of female travel documents and ID papers from nations globally, like Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Investigative Body

The majority of the data on the documents, like names and dates of birth, is censored but the panel stated in a announcement that the passports pertain to "individuals whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were involved with".

Another image features Epstein positioned at a desk in close proximity surrounded by three individuals whose features have been redacted - a first has her palm on Epstein's upper body under his garment, and another individual is leaning to view a nearby laptop. Epstein can be seen to be helping the final person put on a wristband.

Investigative Body

A further image made public is a image of digital messages from an unnamed person who claims they have been sent "several females" and are demanding "$1000 for each individual".

Image Publication Comes Ahead of DOJ Deadline

The committee has thousands of photos in its possession from the Epstein property, which are "simultaneously graphic and everyday," its announcement on Thursday noted.

The House Oversight Committee first subpoenaed the holdings of Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on allegations of sex trafficking, in August.

The images and files the Epstein estate's representatives gave to the body are different than what is commonly termed "the Epstein files". Those files are documents under the Department of Justice's control related to its separate investigation into Epstein.

Pursuant to the Transparency Act, which the President enacted last month, the DOJ has until 19 December to publish its records. The extent of what is found in the DOJ's files is not publicly known, and it's expected that a large amount of the information will be extensively obscured, similar to the committee's materials