Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released 19 new photos from the Jeffrey Epstein estate on Friday showing the late financier with several high-profile figures, including President Donald Trump, President Bill Clinton, director Woody Allen, and MAGA political operative Steve Bannon. There’s also a photo of Richard Branson with Epstein and another of Bill Gates standing next to Epstein’s pilot.
Epstein’s pilot, Larry Visoski, worked for the late sex offender for almost three decades and was the first witness called in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, an Epstein accomplice who’s currently serving a prison sentence in Texas. It’s unclear where Gates was going in the photo released Friday. The Microsoft co-founder has previously said that he regrets spending time with Epstein but denies any wrongdoing.
Another newly released photo of Gates shows him standing next to the man formerly known as Prince Andrew before his titles were stripped away by the British monarchy. Now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, his extensive contacts with Epstein have been under intense scrutiny in recent years.
Billionaire Richard Branson is also in the new batch of photos, pictured next to Segway inventor Dean Kamen. Epstein can be seen behind the two men, and they appear to be in some kind of beach setting.
Branson is seen holding up a notepad with numbers written on it, though it’s unclear what they mean.
The release also included two photos of Steve Bannon with Epstein, including one where the two men take a selfie in the mirror. Another photo shows Bannon seated in front of a desk where Epstein is listening.
That photo disturbingly shows two framed pictures on Epstein’s desk. In one of the photos on the left, Epstein is seen with a person whose face has been redacted. It’s unclear what Epstein’s relationship with those people may have been.
Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California and the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement that the latest batch produced by the Epstein estate includes 95,000 photos.
“It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends,” said Rep. Garcia. “These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”
Republicans claimed Democrats were only sharing selective photos obtained from the Epstein estate.
“Once again, Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Oversight Committee Democrats are cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump. We received over 95,000 photos, and Democrats released just a handful,” an unnamed spokesperson told Politico.
“Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked,” the spokesperson continued. “Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. It is shameful Rep. Garcia and Democrats continue to put politics above justice for the survivors.”
The last time Democrats on the committee released photos from the Epstein estate, Republicans said the same thing, and members of Trump’s own party released even more photos. So it seems like a safe bet that we could see something similar happen very soon. Unless Republicans learned their lesson from last time.
Perhaps the weirdest photos included in the newly released batch include one that shows Trump-branded condoms. And another that shows a black glove that has ribbed fingers, presumably used in what might best be described as “adult situations.”
It’s unclear who took the two photos and what the context for their use may have been.
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