House Democrats release Epstein photos documenting ties to powerful men

WASHINGTON: Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released a set of photographs from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, offering a limited but notable glimpse into the deceased sex offender’s connections to influential figures in politics, entertainment, and finance.

The newly released images, selected from a trove of approximately 95,000 photos found in Epstein’s email account and on one of his laptops, include pictures documenting his associations with celebrities, financiers, and public figures, among them current US President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

From this vast archive, Democrats chose 19 photos to make public. While the material provides few new details, it adds to the already well-established record of Epstein’s ties to prominent individuals in politics, business, media, and academia.

It remains unclear whether Epstein personally took all of the images or how they came into his possession. The committee also provided no context for the photos or for accompanying email messages. In several images, faces of women were redacted in what Democrats described as an effort to protect the identities of potential victims.

Members of the committee said the release was appropriate ahead of next Friday’s deadline for the Justice Department to disclose its investigative files related to the Epstein case.

Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. For years, many wealthy and influential men have faced scrutiny over what they knew of Epstein’s activities and the allegations that he trafficked girls as young as 14 for sex.