House Democrats release Epstein photos with Trump, Bannon, Clinton and others

House Democrats have published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, featuring among others Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.The 19 photographs in the initial drop – some of which have been seen before – plus another 70 released later Friday afternoon represent a small number of the almost 100,000 images released to the House oversight committee, which is looking into the conduct and connections of Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 after he was charged with sex-trafficking offenses.Among the notable figures shown in the first release are celebrities including the film director Woody Allen; the Microsoft founder Bill Gates; and Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire.In Friday’s second batch are photos showing construction work on the exterior of Epstein’s island home. The batch also includes more photographs of the yellow dentist’s office that was featured in a similar release of images and videos by the committee on 3 December, as well as a bathroom, a “Trumpkin” (a pumpkin decorated as Donald Trump), and Epstein in a bathtub.Three of the images feature Trump’s former political adviser Steve Bannon – two of them with Epstein, and one with Allen in a social setting.The photographs were released without context or captions, but according to Robert Garcia, the California Democrat and ranking member of the oversight committee, they raise more questions about Epstein’s connections to wealthy individuals.“It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends,” he said in a statement.“These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth.”The White House responded to the release in a statement accusing Democrats of selectively “cherry-picking” the photographs for political purposes and “to try and create a false narrative”.“The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, insisting that “the Trump administration has done more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents, and calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends.”A bill to release all files held by the government in relation to Epstein passed the House and Senate last month despite strong opposition from Trump. The justice department has until 19 December to comply. Hundreds of thousands of documents are expected to be released. A federal judge also ruled on Tuesday that the department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidante, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence over the charges.Trump features in three of the 19 images initially released on Friday. In one, he is photographed with six women, some in Hawaii dress, and whose faces are blacked out. In the second, he is seen alongside Epstein listening to a woman with blond hair who appears to be sharing a joke. In the third, apparently taken aboard an aircraft, he is sitting alongside another woman with longer blond hair, and whose face is also blacked out.Jeffrey Epstein and Woody Allen in a partially redacted photo released by House oversight Democrats. Photograph: House oversight DemocratsThe president’s face in cartoon form, and the words “I’m huuuuge”, appear in another image on square packets with a sign advertising a “Trump condom” for $4.50. The novelty items were on sale prior to Trump’s first election win in 2016, and earned a place in the Smithsonian Institute’s political satire collection.Trump was close friends with Epstein for 15 years, and called him “a terrific guy”, before insisting he fell out with him and booted him as a member of his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.The new photograph of the former Prince Andrew, meanwhile, shows him in a business suit alongside Gates. Cropped from the picture released Friday is King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, who was in the original news wire photograph taken at a business summit in London in 2018. Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal status and titles in October over his dealings with Epstein.Epstein does not appear in the original or cropped versions, and there is no explanation why the photograph was part of the Epstein estate.The image of Clinton, which the former president looks to have autographed, shows him posing next to Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted in part for procuring teenage girls for Epstein and his associates to abuse.A collection of sex toys, including restraints, a catalog and a guide to the Japanese art of shibari (a form of bondage), appear in three more. Epstein was accused of hosting sex parties for clients at his homes in New York, Florida and at his private Caribbean island retreat, Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands.The former treasury secretary Larry Summers and Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz, appear in two other images, the latter in a previously published news wire photograph from 2004.The photograph of British billionaire Branson on a beach with Epstein also features Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, according to the Boston Globe, which said Kamen did not return a request for comment.An inquiry to Branson’s office was not immediately returned. NBC News reported no immediate response from any of the unidentifiable individuals in the photographs, all of whom have denied wrongdoing, the outlet said.In a statement, the Democratic members of the House oversight and government reform committee promised that more photographs would be released in the coming days from the batch it had just received from the Epstein estate.“This latest production contains over 95,000 photos, including images of the wealthy and powerful men who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein,” it said.“Images also include thousands of photographs of women and Epstein properties. Committee Democrats are reviewing the full set of photos and will continue to release photos to the public in the days and weeks ahead. Committee Democrats are committed to protecting the identities of the survivors.”A statement from the committee’s Republican majority replicated the accusations in the White House statement of “cherry-picking” and selectively censoring the photographs.“Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked. Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Oversight Democrats should be ashamed of this disgusting behavior of putting politics above justice for the survivors,” it said.Friday’s release is the latest of a number of similar recent events. Last week several still images and videos were published of Epstein’s Caribbean island, including bedrooms, a living room, what appeared to be a dentist’s office, an office or library, and a chalkboard on which several unexplained words were written, such as “fin”, “intellectual”, “deception” and “power”.The New York Times reported that Epstein’s last girlfriend was a dentist who shared an office with one of his shell companies.