Garcia says new images “raise more questions” about what material the Justice Department has
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, vowed that Democrats will continue to make public photos and documents from Epstein’s estate “to provide transparency for the American people.”
“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,” he said in a statement. “We must end this White House cover-up, and the DOJ must release the Epstein files now.”
Photos show Ukrainian passport, text messages about 18-year-old from Russia
Also included is a photo of a Ukrainian woman’s passport, with identifying information blacked out:
Another picture shows a screenshot of a series of text messages from an unknown sender. The messages refer to an 18-year-old from Russia and mention someone asking for “1000$ per girl”:
The message includes redacted personal information for an individual’s name, age, measurements, weight and “departure city,” which lists a redacted city and the country of Russia.
Photo shows a line from “Lolita,” written on someone’s foot
In the foreground of one photo, what appears to be a female foot can be seen on a bed. The toenails are painted a dark color, and on the inside of the foot, apparently written in pen, is a line from Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita.”
“She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock,” the line reads. The book is visible in the background of the picture:
Epstein kept a first edition copy of “Lolita” in the office of his New York City home. The novel is about a man’s obsession with, and sexual abuse of, a 12-year-old girl.
Bill Gates and Noam Chomsky seen in new photos
One photo shows billionaire Bill Gates with an unidentified woman, whose face is redacted. Another features Epstein with famed linguist Noam Chomsky on a plane:
Gates has acknowledged spending time with Epstein to seek contributions and connections related to Gates’ philanthropy efforts, which he said in 2021 was a “huge mistake.”
In response to questions from the Wall Street Journal about his relationship with Epstein in 2023, Chomsky replied: “First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally.” The Journal reported that Chomsky met with Epstein in 2015 and 2016.
Chomsky said that, at the time of his meetings with Epstein, “what was known about Jeffrey Epstein was that he had been convicted of a crime and had served his sentence. According to U.S. laws and norms, that yields a clean slate.”
Emails that Chomsky and Epstein exchanged were among documents released by the House Oversight Committee last month.
Oversight Democrats released a first tranche of photos last week
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released 92 photos last week that they obtained from Epstein’s estate. The batch included images of Mr. Trump and former President Bill Clinton, as well as other prominent figures like former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and billionaires Bill Gates and Richard Branson.
Filmmaker Woody Allen and Steve Bannon, a conservative commentator who was an adviser to Mr. Trump in his first term, are also in some of the photos released by the committee.
The photos do not implicate any of those pictured in Epstein’s crimes. The White House accused Democrats of “cherry-picking” the photos to “create a false narrative” about Mr. Trump.
The Oversight Committee has received roughly 95,000 images from Epstein’s estate.
Senate Democrats question Justice Department “failure”
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and other Senate Democrats wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, criticizing the Department of Justice for not interviewing Epstein’s long-time lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn as part of its criminal probes.
Indyke and Kahn are now executors of Epstein’s estate.
“The reported failure to interview Indyke and Kahn raises concerns that the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to investigate key members of Epstein’s inner circle out of fear of retaliation by Epstein’s estate,” Wyden said. “As executors of the estate, Indyke and Kahn are in possession of a trove of documents and images that may contain compromising information on President Trump and other powerful figures.”
They included a series of questions, including one asking if the Justice Department ever asked the duo for voluntary interviews.
Maxwell asks court to set aside sex-trafficking conviction and sentence
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein’s, asked a federal court in New York on Wednesday to set aside her conviction on sex-trafficking charges and 20-year prison sentence.
Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls with Epstein. A federal appeals court upheld her conviction and sentence last year, and the Supreme Court in October declined to review her case.
In Maxwell’s latest court filing, which she submitted herself, she argues that “substantial new evidence has emerged from related civil actions, government disclosures, investigative reports, and documents demonstrating constitutional violations that undermined the fairness of her proceedings.”
She claimed that the newly available evidence shows that “exculpatory information was withheld, false testimony presented, and material facts misrepresented to the jury and the Court.”
Maxwell had initially been serving her sentence at a federal correctional facility in Tallahassee, Florida, but was moved to a minimum security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, this summer. Her transfer came days after she met with Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, in Tallahassee in late July to discuss Epstein’s case.
More files likely to emerge from Oversight Committee’s investigation
The Oversight Committee’s investigation has included subpoenas to the Justice Department, Epstein’s estate and banks that had relationships with Epstein.
While the Justice Department is required to make public its documents on Friday, there may be documents not currently in the government’s possession that have yet to be turned over to Congress from the estate and financial institutions.
Recent public releases from lawmakers on the committee — sourced from Epstein’s estate — include images of Epstein’s private island, and a “birthday book” with a vulgar drawing around a note that appears to bear President Trump’s signature. He has denied writing the note.
The committee has yet to release records from Epstein’s banks, but has said it will.
Lawmakers of both parties on the committee get access to records produced under subpoenas. In previous instances, Democrats have released a small number of photos or records, followed by a broader release by the Republican majority.
Justice Department faces Friday deadline to release Epstein files
In November, Congress passed and the president signed a new law known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law requires the attorney general to release all files held by the Justice Department, FBI and U.S. attorney’s offices related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, with exceptions for personnel information of survivors and other narrow categories.
The president signed the law on Nov. 19, starting the clock on a 30-day deadline for the administration to release the files.
The statute requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicly release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and Maxwell. It also compels the release of flight logs, names of individuals linked to Epstein, entities linked to his sex trafficking operations and government records about internal deliberations regarding Epstein.