According to Reuters and the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Democratic members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee again released 68 new photos related to the Epstein case on December 18, local time. Reuters and other media said the move came a day before the deadline for the U.S. Justice Department to release the Epstein case-related files, with only a few hours left until December 19, the deadline.
According to a statement released by Democrat Robert Garcia, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the photos included a large number of blacked-out female passport photos, well-known male images associated with Epstein, and “record of text messages related to recruiting women for Jeffrey Epstein.” The committee‘s Democrats did not provide any explanation explaining the background of the photos when they released them.
The Democrats said they also had thousands of images “both with explicit content and everyday scenes” that were still under ongoing analysis.
According to parts of the specific photos revealed by ABC, there were photos showing women‘s calves and feet, with controversial novel phrases written on the legs; Epstein‘s intimate photo with three women; and text chat screenshots, whose content seemed to involve a discussion about recruiting an 18-year-old girl to meet with Epstein.
Photo released by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee on 18th, local time. Photo: U.S. media.
Other published photos also include: Epstein‘s last US passport issued in March 2019, which noted his previous convictions for sexual crimes against minors; and a photo of Epstein smiling and shaking hands with an officer wearing a similar uniform to that of the US Customs and Border Protection Agency.
Photo released by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee on 18th, local time. Photo: U.S. media.
Just last week (12 local time), Democratic members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee had published a batch of photos related to the Epstein case, including prominent figures such as U.S. President Trump and former President Clinton. Later that day, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson condemned Democrats for “selectively publishing some carefully selected, arbitrarily altered photos in an attempt to create false narratives.”
Epstein was closely associated with a large number of U.S. political and business celebrities. After being arrested for suspected sex crimes, he died in prison in August 2019, and was judged to have committed “suicide.” The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI released a memorandum on July 7 this year, stating that there was no credible evidence that Epstein possessed a “client list” used to blackmail famous people, no evidence that Epstein died of murder, and that no more Epstein case documents would be released in the future.
Recently, the Republican Party has been divided over whether to support the disclosure of the Epstein case documents. On November 16, Trump reversed his previous stance and called for Republican Representatives to vote in support of the disclosure of the Epstein case documents, saying, “We have nothing to hide.” Several media analysts believe that Trump‘s attitude has undergone a 180-degree shift because many Republican Representatives were willing to vote in support of the disclosure of the Epstein case files despite party senior directives. On November 19, Trump announced that he had signed a bill requiring the Justice Department to disclose Epstein-related case documents. This means that the 30-day countdown to the publication of the Epstein case file has officially begun.