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Committee

The Congressional oversight panel has released a batch of approximately 70 photographs obtained from the property of former convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

This constitutes the latest in a series of publication from a tranche of in excess of 95,000 photographs the panel has secured from Epstein's property. It features images of passages from the literary work Lolita scrawled across a woman's body, and censored photos of female overseas passports.

This action comes just hours before the December 19th due date for the Justice Department to make public all documents connected to its probe into Epstein.

"These latest photos pose more queries about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession," said the ranking member of the committee, Robert Garcia.

Contents in the Photographs Disclosed

Several of the images released on this week feature Epstein in discussion with professor and activist Noam Chomsky inside a personal aircraft; Bill Gates positioned next to a woman whose identity is obscured; Steve Bannon sitting at a table across from Epstein, and ex- Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a evening meal.

Oversight Panel

These are the most recent high-net-worth, powerful individuals to be pictured in Epstein property images disclosed by the committee - previously published photos also depict US President Donald Trump and ex-president Bill Clinton, as well as film director Woody Allen, previous US treasury secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and others.

Being pictured in the photos is does not constitute indication of any misconduct, and several of the featured men have said they were in no way involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a announcement accompanying the image disclosure, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee stated the Epstein estate's representatives did not offer context or timeframes for the pictures.

"Photographs were chosen to offer the American people with clarity into a illustrative selection of the photos received from the estate, and to give insights into Epstein's network and his profoundly disturbing activities," the statement reads.

Investigative Body

The disclosure also includes several photographs of excerpts from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita written in black ink across different parts of a female's body, including her torso, foot, hip, and spine. Lolita narrates the account of a adolescent who was exploited by a middle-aged literature professor.

One passage from the book scrawled across a woman's torso says, "Lo-lee-ta: the point of the tongue making a journey of three steps down the roof of the mouth to alight, at three, on the teeth".

There are also a collection of photographs of women's travel documents and identification documents from states around the world, including Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Committee

Most of the data on the IDs, like names and DOBs, is redacted but the committee stated in a announcement that the travel documents belong to "females whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were involved with".

An additional photo features Epstein positioned at a desk closely in the company of three female figures whose identities have been censored - a first has her hand on Epstein's upper body under his shirt, and another is crouching to view a close-by computer. Epstein can be seen to be helping the third individual fasten a wristband.

Oversight Panel

An additional photograph disclosed is a capture of digital messages from an unnamed person who states they have been provided "a number of girls" and are asking for "$$1,000 per girl".

Photo Release Occurs Prior to DOJ Due Date

The committee has thousands of photographs in its possession from the Epstein estate, which are "at once graphic and everyday," its press release on this week explained.

The House Oversight Committee first issued a subpoena to the estate of Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on allegations of human trafficking, in August.

The photos and documents the Epstein property submitted to the panel are different than what is often referred to "the Epstein documents". That material are documents in the Department of Justice's control connected to its separate investigation into Epstein.

Under the recently passed law, which President Trump signed into law last month, the DOJ has until 19 December to release its documents. The scope of what's found in the DOJ's records is not publicly known, and it's expected that much of the information will be extensively censored, similar to the committee's materials