House Democrats released an initial batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, including images of Trump, Clinton and Prince Andrew.
The photos are separate from Justice Department files due for release next week amid political and legal pressure.
Lawmakers say further images may be released as debates over transparency and accountability continue.
House Democrats on Friday released a first batch of photographs from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein that include images of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, as pressure mounts on the Trump administration ahead of a court-ordered deadline to make public the long-awaited Justice Department files linked to the case.
According to AP, the 19 photographs made public by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee represent only a fraction of more than 95,000 images handed over by Epstein’s estate. Lawmakers later released about 70 additional photographs the same day, AP reported, including images of Epstein’s home, photographs of him bathing, a close-up showing a swollen lip, and a picture of Epstein posing with a book about the scandal surrounding him.
Epstein, a financier with close ties to powerful figures, died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The images released on Friday were separate from the Justice Department case files that the administration is now under legal compulsion to disclose. Anticipation has grown ahead of a deadline next week for the Trump administration to produce the so-called Epstein files, which have fuelled years of speculation and conspiracy theories, according to AP.
The photographs were released without captions or contextual explanation. Among them was a black-and-white image of Mr Trump standing alongside six women whose faces had been blacked out. Rep Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on the Oversight Committee, declined to say whether any of the women pictured were victims of abuse.
“Our commitment from day one has been to redact any photo, any information that could lead to any sort of harm to any of the victims,” Mr Garcia said.
The White House pushed back sharply against the release. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson accused Democrats of “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative” and described the move as part of a “Democrat hoax against President Trump”. Many of the photographs, she added, had already circulated publicly.
Democrats said they would continue releasing images in the coming days and weeks as they seek to increase pressure on Mr Trump over his administration’s earlier refusal to release documents linked to the Epstein investigation. Mr Garcia said his staff had reviewed roughly a quarter of the images received from the estate, which include photographs Epstein had sent to others or kept in his possession.
“Donald Trump right now needs to release the files to the American public so that the truth can come out and we can actually get some sense of justice for the survivors,” Mr Garcia said.
Mr Trump, who once socialised with Epstein, has said he severed ties with him well before the financier was charged. Mr Clinton has also sought to downplay his association with Epstein, acknowledging that he travelled on Epstein’s private jet but stating through a spokesperson that he had no knowledge of his crimes. Mr Clinton has not been accused of misconduct by any of Epstein’s known victims, though Republicans on the Oversight Committee are pressing him and Hillary Clinton to testify.
A spokesperson for the Republican-controlled committee said there was nothing in the material received so far that showed “any wrongdoing” by Mr Trump.
Prince Andrew lost his remaining royal titles and privileges earlier this year amid renewed scrutiny of his links to Epstein, which he has consistently denied involved any wrongdoing.
The photo release also included images of right-wing political strategist Steve Bannon, billionaires Richard Branson and Bill Gates, filmmaker Woody Allen, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and law professor Alan Dershowitz. All have denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, who cultivated a wide circle of prominent acquaintances.
Summers previously stepped away from his teaching role at Harvard University after emails between him and Epstein were made public, leading to broader fallout within academic circles. Allen has faced longstanding allegations from his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he sexually abused her as a child, claims he has denied.
Some lawmakers argue that additional powerful figures could be implicated if the full Justice Department files are released. Rep Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who played a key role in passing legislation requiring the public disclosure of the records, said the Justice Department’s recent moves to unseal grand jury material were encouraging.
“The grand jury material is just a small fraction of what the DOJ needs to release, because the FBI and DOJ probably has evidence that they chose not to take to the grand jury because the evidence they’re in possession of would implicate other people, not Epstein or Maxwell,” Mr Massie said.
(With inputs from AP)
