More photos from Epstein’s estate released by House Democrats as deadline to release DOJ files looms

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Thursday released photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate — the latest in a series of intermittent revelations that have fueled significant political intrigue in recent weeks about who may have been associated with the convicted sex offender.

The photos, released without further context by committee members, include a Ukrainian passport with a female notation, philosopher Noam Chomsky on a plane with Epstein and Bill Gates posing for a photo with a woman whose face was redacted by Democrats on the billboard.

The images also include a screenshot of a snippet of a text conversation where a person discusses sending girls.

“I don’t know about trying to send someone else. I have a research friend who sent me some girls today. But she’s asking $1000 per girl. I’m sending you girls now. Maybe someone will be good for J?” the series of messages is read. The person then submits a detailed description, including name, ’18 years old’, height, measurements, weight, a note about the Schengen area and a ‘departure city’. Many of the details are redacted, although age, a tick next to Schengen and Russia are all visible.

There is no context provided around this conversation and it is not clear who the participants in the message exchange are.

Another photo shows a woman’s leg with a quote from “Lolita,” Vladimir Nabokov’s novel about a man’s sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl, written on it.

Democrats initially released five images, but then released more than 50 later Thursday.

It was not immediately clear when or where they were taken or by whom.

Democrats noted that the estate did not provide any context around the images shared with the committee and said they released them as they were received, other than their redactions. Democrats chose which photos to release as the panel received more than 95,000 images from the estate last week, which lawmakers are still sifting through.

Commission members said in each release that they have withheld any personally identifying information about victims and survivors or whether it is unknown whether a person pictured is a victim of Epstein’s abuse.

Oversight Democrats released portions of the photos turned over to the committee from Epstein’s estate last week, while the Republican-led group has typically released documents and images in single drops once lawmakers have reviewed them in their entirety. Republicans on the committee accused Democratic members of “picking” images to paint a specific narrative.

“Oversight Democrats will continue to release photos and documents from the Epstein estate to provide transparency to the American people,” Rep. Robert Garcia said in a statement. “As we approach the deadline for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Justice Department has in its possession. We must end this White House cover-up and the DOJ must release the Epstein files now.”

Previous photos of Epstein’s estate released by Democrats have depicted the late financier’s private island and many powerful figures in his orbit.

Gates and Chomsky have previously reported that they knew Epstein and were photographed in earlier pictures at the property. CNN has reached out to representatives for each man.

A spokesman for Gates has previously repeatedly denied that Epstein ever worked for him. Gates previously said he regretted meeting Epstein, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2021, “It was a big mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility to be there.”

Chomsky previously declined CNN’s requests for comment. He is known to have once written a letter of recommendation for Epstein, talked with Epstein about science and philosophy, and was invited by Epstein to stay at one of his homes in 2015.

The Republican-led committee obtained the images from Epstein’s estate as part of its ongoing investigation. The panel has so far released tens of thousands of documents, emails and communications it received from the Epstein estate.

In a letter to the committee, attorneys for the estate noted that they could review the videos and photos they requested “taken at any property owned, leased, operated or used by Epstein from January 1, 1990 to August 10, 2019.”

While the commission said the documents obtained continued to open new lines of inquiry, the revelations slowly unfolding on Capitol Hill have at times been downright painful for many of Epstein’s victims.

In a recent interview with CNN, a group of survivors said not knowing when — and what — they might come out on any given day was a stressful experience. They also said that some of the releases so far have triggered memories of their trauma years ago.

Hundreds of victims believed to have been abused by Epstein are currently bracing for the Justice Department’s release of its Epstein files — a disclosure expected to be more extensive and larger than anything that has come before.

But the DOJ, which faces a Friday deadline to release its investigative files under a law passed by Congress last month, has not publicly detailed the timeline or specific parameters for its upcoming release, and survivors who spoke to CNN said they had not received any briefing from the department to discuss it.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s MJ Lee contributed to this report.

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