One of the photos shows a much younger Bill Clinton, who was president between 1993 and 2001, posing with Epstein and Epstein’s girlfriend and associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Clinton appeared to have signed the photograph. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of trafficking girls for sex in conjunction with Epstein, who died in jail awaiting trial.
Another photo shows Bannon and Allen standing and speaking at an unspecified location, while in another, Epstein and Bannon take a phone selfie together while standing in front of a mirror.
House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew. Source: @OversightDems/XCredit: @OversightDems/X
In one photo, also from an unknown location and time, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is seen with the former Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now known, had his royal titles stripped over his associations with Epstein.
The top Democrat on the committee, congressman Robert Garcia, said the “disturbing” photos raised more important questions about Epstein’s relationships with some of the world’s most powerful men.
“We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW,” Garcia said, calling for an end to what he called a “White House cover-up”.
Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein take a selfie in a photo released by Democrats on the US Congress House Oversight Committee.Credit: @OversightDems/X
The Trump administration rejects the suggestion it has covered up Epstein’s crimes or associations. It notes it released additional files from the Epstein investigation earlier this year, and queries why Democrats did not release the Epstein documents themselves when Joe Biden was in the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down on a deadline for the Department of Justice to release potentially tens of thousands of documents related to its investigation into Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking crimes, known as the “Epstein files”.
Under a bill signed by Trump last month, the government has until December 19 to produce “all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials in DoJ’s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein”.
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The department is allowed to withhold certain information “such as the personal information of victims and materials that would jeopardise an active federal investigation”.
In recent weeks, multiple judges have ruled that secret grand jury transcripts relating to investigations into Epstein and Maxwell can be unsealed, in accordance with the aforementioned bill.
Trump and Epstein were friends in the 1990s but fell out in the 2000s, Trump has said. He has always denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Other high-profile men including Clinton, Gates and economics professor Larry Summers have said they regret their past associations with Epstein.
Epstein was convicted of child sex offences in 2008 in Florida, and served jail time under a deal in which he pleaded guilty.
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