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Oversight Panel

The Congressional oversight panel has released a batch of roughly 70 photographs obtained from the property of former convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

This constitutes the third such release from a larger collection of over 95,000 images the body has obtained from Epstein's property. It includes images of excerpts from the literary work Lolita inscribed across a female's body, and obscured images of women's international passports.

This release comes mere hours before the 19 December cut-off for the Justice Department to make public each records associated with its investigation into Epstein.

"These latest photographs pose further questions about exactly what the Justice Department has in its custody," remarked the Democratic lead of the committee, Robert Garcia.

What's in the Photographs Disclosed

Several of the photographs released on Thursday feature Epstein conversing with professor and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a private jet; Bill Gates standing next to a individual whose features is redacted; Steve Bannon seated at a desk across from Epstein, and ex- Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner gathering.

Oversight Panel

These are the most recent affluent, prominent men to be photographed in Epstein's estate photographs disclosed by the committee - earlier published pictures also show US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton, as well as director Woody Allen, ex- US Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and others.

Being pictured in the photographs is not evidence of any illegal activity, and several of the featured men have asserted they were not involved in Epstein's illegal activity.

In a press release accompanying the photo disclosure, Lawmakers on the US House Oversight Committee said the Epstein property holders did not supply background information or timings for the images.

"Photographs were chosen to furnish the general populace with transparency into a representative sample of the photographs received from the holdings, and to offer understanding into Epstein's circle and his exceptionally disturbing behavior," the announcement says.

Investigative Body

The release also contains multiple photographs of excerpts from the Vladimir Nabokov book Lolita inscribed in black ink across various areas of a female's body, such as her chest, feet, hipbone, and spine. Lolita recounts the story of a young girl who was exploited by a adult literature professor.

A particular passage from the book inscribed across a female's chest reads, "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the roof of the mouth to tap, at three, on the teeth".

There are also a series of images of female passports and official papers from countries globally, like Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Oversight Panel

The majority of the data on the documents, like identities and DOBs, is censored but the committee indicated in a announcement that the passports pertain to "females whom Jeffrey Epstein and his associates were engaging".

A further photo depicts Epstein sitting at a desk intimately surrounded by three women whose features have been redacted - one individual has her hand on Epstein's upper body under his shirt, and another individual is bending to view a adjacent device. Epstein appears to be assisting the final person put on a piece of jewelry.

Investigative Body

Another image released is a screenshot of text messages from an unnamed sender who claims they have been supplied "several females" and are asking for "$1000 per girl".

Photo Release Arrives Prior to DOJ Cut-off

The panel has many thousands of photographs in its holdings from the Epstein property, which are "at once disturbing and ordinary," its statement on Thursday clarified.

The Congressional committee first subpoenaed the estate of Epstein, who passed away in a New York correctional facility in 2019 while pending legal proceedings on charges of human trafficking, in August.

The images and files the Epstein property submitted to the committee are separate from what is commonly called "Epstein-related records". That material are documents within the DOJ's custody connected to its own probe into Epstein.

In accordance with the recently passed law, which the President made law in November, the DOJ has a deadline of 19 December to disclose its files. The scope of what's found in the DOJ's documents is unclear, and it's probable that a significant portion of the information will be heavily censored, similar to the committee's documents