House Democrats urged the release of all Justice Department documents from Epstein investigations the day before a Congress-ordered deadline for the files.
Epstein documents release: Here’s what to know
The Justice Department will release grand jury transcripts and internal memos in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Here’s what to know.
WASHINGTON – House Democrats released another batch of 68 pictures from accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, the latest showing foreign passports with the identifying information blacked out and phrases from the book “Lolita” written on parts of a woman’s body.
One passport was for a person from Ukraine. A screenshot of text messages lists details about an 18-year-old Russian woman, including her height and weight, with the phrases “But she asks 1000$ per girl” and “I will send u girls now.”
The pictures with phrases from Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita,” which was about a man’s obsession with a 12-year-old girl, show phrasing from the book on a woman’s cleavage or on a foot.
“She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock,” one line reads on a foot, with the book in the background.
The Democratic release came a day before the Justice Department is scheduled to release more documents from the criminal investigations against Epstein. He died by suicide in jail awaiting trial in 2019 on sex trafficking charges.
Tens of thousands of pages of records, including pictures from Epstein’s private Caribbean island, depositions and email exchanges have already been released through civil lawsuits and Congress.
But Epstein’s victims and lawmakers have advocated for the release of all Epstein files, to potentially find others among his rich and famous acquaintances who could be charged with crimes. Congress passed a law President Donald Trump signed last month demanding the Justice Department release more of its files.
Three federal judges have allowed the release of grand jury transcripts and other evidence that is traditionally kept confidential. The cases dealt with investigations when Epstein wasn’t charged federally in 2008, when he was charged in 2019 and of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. She was convicted of conspiring with him and is serving a 20-year prison term.
The law also called on the department to release internal emails and memos about decisions about whether to charge people in the investigations. But Attorney General Pam Bondi could withhold documents that name victims, portray child sexual abuse or could hurt criminal prosecutions.
House Democrats have been dribbling out pictures from a collection of 95,000 from Epstein’s estate in an effort to pressure the administration to release more of its files. Republicans have accused Democrats of “cherry-picking” which documents to release rather than provide a comprehensive view of the investigations.
“We will continue releasing photographs and documents to provide transparency for the American people,” Democratic lawmakers said on social media. “It’s time for the Department of Justice to release the files.”
