After Donald Trump, several other celebrities have now become the new target of the House Oversight Committee as Democrats released new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate on Thursday, on the eve of the Department of Justice’s deadline to release all of its files on his case.The Committee released around 70 photographs, drawn from Epstein’s computer and email accounts, there were among 95,000 handed over by Epstein’s estate last week and were provided to the committee without context. They shed further light on his lifestyle and social circles. One image shows former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates standing next to a woman whose face is redacted. Another features Noam Chomsky seated beside Epstein on a plane. Several photographs depict a social gathering over a meal and include faces of powerful or public figures, among them Epstein. A separate image, apparently from the same room, shows Google co-founder Sergey Brin beside New York Times columnist David Brooks. A New York Times spokesperson said in a statement, “As a journalist, David Brooks regularly attends events to speak with noted and important business leaders to inform his columns, which is exactly what happened at this 2011 event. Mr. Brooks had no contact with him before or after this single attendance at a widely-attended dinner.” Several images in the new release show Epstein with women whose faces have been redacted. One photograph appears to show three women with Epstein beside an open computer, one of the women with her arm around his shoulder. Another shows Epstein seated on a plane, pointing out a window while a woman sits closely beside him; her face has also been obscured. Some photos in this batch offer close-ups of a foot and a neck, both inscribed in black pen with quotes from the book Lolita. Additional items include identification cards or passports of several unidentified people from countries such as Russia and the Czech Republic, a hand holding open Epstein’s own passport, and what appears to be a screenshot of text messages saying “I will send u girls now”,” with another one showing an unknown sender writing, “Maybe someone would be good for J?” and including the age and body measurements for an unidentified person. There is also a hand holding a drug bottle labelled for phenazopyridine, a generic analgesia used to relieve urinary tract pain and burning. The latest cache of photographs comes a day before the Justice Department’s deadline to release the Epstein files, after Congress mandated the information be made public. Rep. Robert Garcia, Democratic ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement Thursday, “Oversight Democrats will continue to release photographs and documents from the Epstein estate to provide transparency for the American people.” He added, “As we approach the deadline for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession. We must end this White House cover-up, and the DOJ must release the Epstein files now.”
