Democratic US lawmakers have released two new batches of photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate, revealing details of the convicted paedophile's home and ties to the rich and powerful.
US President Donald Trump, former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon are among the high-profile figures featured in the photos. The images, many of which have been seen before, do not imply wrongdoing.
The nearly 100 photos released by members of the House Oversight Committee on Friday are some of more than 95,000 images obtained via subpoena, the Democrats said.
The justice department is separately approaching a deadline next week to publish all Epstein-related documents.
In the first batch of photos released on Friday, Epstein is seen with multiple high-profile figures, none of whom have yet commented. Many of them have previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
Trump appeared in three of the images released on Friday. One image showed him standing next to a woman whose face has been redacted. Another showed Trump standing next to Epstein while talking to model Ingrid Seynhaeve at a 1997 Victoria's Secret party in New York – an image that was already publicly available. A third photo showed Trump smiling with several women, whose faces have also been redacted.
An additional photo showed an illustrated likeness of the president on red packets next to a sign that reads: 'Trump Condom'.
The White House called the release a 'Democrat hoax' against Trump that has been 'repeatedly debunked'. Trump had for months argued the Epstein saga was a distraction orchestrated by his critics to take attention away from his administration's accomplishments.
Friday's files also include private images of Epstein, including one of him in a bathtub and another that appears to show sexual toys. They also show him with several other prominent people including former President Bill Clinton and tech billionaire Bill Gates.
One photo featuring Clinton shows him standing next to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in facilitating the disgraced financier's abuse. Clinton has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. In 2019, a spokesperson said he 'knows nothing about the terrible crimes' Epstein pleaded guilty to.
One image included in Friday's batch was a cropped section of a picture originally taken by a photographer working for Getty Images in 2018, which showed King Charles in conversation with Microsoft founder Gates at a London summit. The image contained in Epstein's collection was cropped to show only Andrew and Gates.
Andrew, who has faced years of scrutiny over his past relationship with Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is also seen in some of the images. No additional context or details were included, so it is not clear when, why or where many of the photos were taken.
Epstein's connection to multiple high-profile figures has fueled online conspiracies and demands for greater transparency around the investigations into the billionaire financier. The justice department has until 19 December to release all documents related to the Epstein case as required by a bill passed nearly unanimously by Congress and signed by Trump in November.
Friday's publications mark the second time in a month that Democrats on the committee have published new images as part of their inquiry into Epstein. They initially released 19 images earlier in the day before publishing another nearly 80 later.
