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Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate on Thursday. This release happens as the Department of Justice (DOJ) faces a 48-hour deadline to comply with the “Epstein Files Transparency Act”. These images are undated and lack captions. However, they provide a chilling look into the s*x offender’s world.
High-Profile Figures with Epstein & Disturbing “Lolita” Imagery
The batch includes photographs of a woman’s body with lines from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” written on her skin. One image shows the book’s famous opening lines on a woman’s chest. Other passages appear on a woman’s foot, neck, and spine.
Furthermore, the release features high-profile figures. One photo shows Bill Gates posing with a woman whose face is redacted. Another shows linguist Noam Chomsky sitting on a plane with Epstein. Other individuals in the photos include director Woody Allen, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and New York Times columnist David Brooks. While these photos exist, they do not serve as evidence of wrongdoing.
The DOJ Struggles with Transparency Deadlines
The Trump administration previously refused to release additional Epstein files. However, President Trump signed the transparency bill into law on November 19 after it gained bipartisan support. Now, the DOJ is racing to redact thousands of pages before the deadline.
Sources indicate that attorneys in the national security division are processing over 1,000 documents each. They are working with only four pages of internal guidance for redactions. Consequently, legal experts warn that this rushed review could lead to over-redactions or the accidental exposure of personal information.
The release also includes screenshots of text messages. One message refers to an 18-year-old from Russia and mentions a “scout” who “asks 1000$ per girl”. The sender asks if these girls would be “good for J”. Additionally, the batch contains images of Epstein’s US passport and several redacted foreign passports.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s Last-Ditch Legal Effort
As these photos surfaced, Ghislaine Maxwell filed a federal petition on Wednesday. She is currently serving a 20-year sentence for s*x trafficking. Maxwell is asking the court to vacate her conviction. She claims “substantial new evidence” shows that the government withheld exculpatory information.
Maxwell filed this petition “pro se”, meaning she is acting without an attorney. She alleges that false testimony and misrepresented facts led to her 2021 conviction. Meanwhile, a federal judge recently ruled that the DOJ can release grand jury materials from her case. Her lawyers argued that this disclosure would prevent a fair retrial, but the court cited the new transparency law in its decision.
