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Investigative Body

The House investigative committee has released a set of around 70 images secured from the holdings of late adjudicated individual convicted of sex crimes Jeffrey Epstein.

This marks the third release from a larger collection of over 95,000 images the panel has secured from Epstein's holdings. It contains pictures of excerpts from the novel Lolita written across a female's body, and censored images of women's overseas passports.

This release arrives hours before the 19 December due date for the DOJ to make public every files associated with its inquiry into Epstein.

"These images raise more queries about precisely what the Justice Department has in its possession," remarked the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What's in the Photos Released

Several of the photos published on recently feature Epstein conversing with academic and activist Noam Chomsky on a private jet; Bill Gates seen next to a female whose face is obscured; Steve Bannon sitting at a workstation opposite Epstein, and previous Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a evening meal.

Investigative Body

These are the most recent wealthy, powerful figures to be seen in Epstein estate photographs published by the House Oversight Committee - previously released pictures also show US President Donald Trump and past president Bill Clinton, as well as movie director Woody Allen, ex- US treasury secretary Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and additional individuals.

Appearing in the images is does not constitute proof of any misconduct, and several of the pictured men have said they were never involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a press release accompanying the image publication, Democratic members on the US House Oversight Committee said the Epstein estate's representatives did not provide background information or timings for the pictures.

"Photographs were picked to offer the American people with clarity into a typical cross-section of the photos received from the property, and to give perspectives into Epstein's circle and his exceptionally disturbing behavior," the announcement reads.

Oversight Panel

The release also includes a number of images of quotes from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita written in ink across several locations of a female's body, like her upper body, feet, pelvis, and spine. Lolita tells the story of a adolescent who was exploited by a adult literature professor.

A particular passage from the work scrawled across a female's upper body states, "Lolita: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to alight, at three, on the teeth".

There are also a collection of photographs of women's identification and official papers from countries worldwide, such as Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Investigative Body

A large portion of the data on the documents, including names and dates of birth, is censored but the House Oversight Committee said in a press release that the passports pertain to "individuals whom Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators were involved with".

Another photo shows Epstein positioned at a workstation closely flanked by three women whose features have been redacted - one has her palm on Epstein's upper body under his garment, and another individual is bending to examine a close-by computer. Epstein can be seen to be assisting the final person fasten a bracelet.

Committee

A further photo released is a capture of SMS messages from an unidentified individual who states they have been sent "a number of girls" and are asking for "$one thousand dollars per female".

Image Release Comes Before DOJ Deadline

The committee has a vast number of images in its custody from the Epstein holdings, which are "at once explicit and everyday," its statement on this week noted.

The oversight panel first issued a subpoena to the holdings of Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 while facing trial on allegations of sex trafficking, in August.

The images and documents the Epstein property gave to the panel are distinct from what is often termed "Epstein-related records". That material are records under the Department of Justice's possession associated with its independent inquiry into Epstein.

Pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Donald Trump enacted recently, the DOJ has a deadline of 19 December to release its records. The extent of the contents found in the DOJ's files is unclear, and it's probable that a large amount of the material will be heavily redacted, akin to the committee's materials