Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Congress released a new set of photographs related to the late businessman Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday. The move comes ahead of a deadline set by legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump, requiring his administration to disclose documents pertaining to the case.
The 68 images released are part of a larger collection of 95,000 photographs that lawmakers stated they received last week from the estate of Epstein. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on further charges.
This action is intended to increase pressure on the Trump administration to release the Epstein-related documents, as mandated by the law he signed last month. Democratic members of a key House committee emphasized on social media that “the time has come for the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files.”
Some of the released photos depict Epstein in various settings with prominent figures, including former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, left-leaning intellectual Noam Chomsky, and film director Woody Allen. The images also include passport and identification documents for women from Ukraine, Russia, and South Africa, with their names and faces obscured.
Epstein’s associations with numerous high-profile individuals in politics, business, and entertainment have made his death a subject of widespread controversy and conspiracy theories. He was found hanged in a New York jail on August 10, 2019.
The Epstein case has resurfaced after President Trump, following an election campaign in which he promised to reveal what he called “shocking truths” about the Epstein affair, surprised his supporters months ago by urging them to move on from the issue. He suggested that the entire case was a “hoax” orchestrated by his Democratic opponents.
However, Trump was unable to block the passage of legislation in Congress aimed at increasing transparency in the case, leading him to sign the bill into law on November 19. The legislation mandates that the U.S. Department of Justice must release all non-confidential documents related to Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence after her conviction.
DZWatch will continue to follow this developing story.
