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Oversight Panel

The Congressional oversight panel has made public a batch of around 70 photos obtained from the property of deceased found guilty sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

This constitutes the third release from a larger collection of over 95,000 photographs the body has obtained from Epstein's property. It features pictures of excerpts from the novel Lolita written across a woman's body, and censored images of women's overseas passports.

This release occurs hours before the 19 December due date for the Justice Department to make public all files associated with its investigation into Epstein.

"These latest photographs pose more inquiries about precisely what the Justice Department has in its custody," remarked the ranking member of the panel, Robert Garcia.

What is in the Photos Released

Some of the images released on recently depict Epstein in discussion with professor and activist Noam Chomsky aboard a private jet; Bill Gates seen alongside a woman whose features is redacted; Steve Bannon positioned at a desk facing Epstein, and previous Alphabet president Sergey Brin at a dinner event.

Investigative Body

These are the newest wealthy, powerful individuals to be pictured in Epstein property images published by the House Oversight Committee - formerly published photos also show US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton, as well as film director Woody Allen, previous US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Mountbatton-Windsor, and other figures.

Appearing in the photos is is not considered evidence of any illegal activity, and a number of the pictured figures have said they were in no way participating in Epstein's unlawful actions.

In a press release released with the photo release, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee said the Epstein property holders did not offer background information or dates for the pictures.

"Photos were chosen to provide the general populace with openness into a illustrative selection of the images acquired from the holdings, and to provide perspectives into Epstein's associates and his exceptionally troubling behavior," the release reads.

Oversight Panel

The release also contains several photos of passages from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita written in black ink across different parts of a female's body, including her upper body, foot, hip, and spine. Lolita narrates the account of a young girl who was exploited by a middle-aged literature professor.

One excerpt from the book written across a female's chest reads, "Lolita: the end of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the roof of the mouth to land, at three, on the teeth".

The release also contains a collection of photographs of women's passports and identification documents from countries worldwide, such as Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Oversight Panel

A large portion of the information on the papers, such as identities and birth dates, is obscured but the committee indicated in a press release that the passports pertain to "individuals whom Jeffrey Epstein and his associates were involved with".

A further photograph shows Epstein seated at a table in close proximity surrounded by three women whose features have been censored - a first has her hand on Epstein's chest under his garment, and another individual is leaning to view a adjacent computer. Epstein appears to be aiding the third individual put on a bracelet.

Oversight Panel

An additional photograph made public is a image of digital messages from an unnamed person who says they have been provided "several females" and are asking for "$one thousand dollars per girl".

Photograph Disclosure Occurs Prior to DOJ Cut-off

The committee has thousands of photos in its holdings from the Epstein property, which are "at once explicit and everyday," its statement on this week explained.

The oversight panel first issued a subpoena to the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York correctional facility in 2019 while facing trial on accusations of sex trafficking, in August.

The photos and files the Epstein property submitted to the panel are distinct from what is largely termed "the Epstein documents". That material are records in the DOJ's custody connected to its independent probe into Epstein.

Under the recently passed law, which President Trump made law recently, the DOJ has a deadline of 19 December to release its documents. The full nature of what's included in the DOJ's records is not publicly known, and it's expected that a significant portion of the content will be significantly censored, similar to Congressional releases