August M
The long-running Jeffrey Epstein case has returned to the political spotlight in Washington, as lawmakers intensify demands for transparency. With a key deadline approaching, tensions between Congress and the White House are resurfacing.
At the center of the dispute are documents and images that lawmakers say the public has a right to see.
Democratic members of the U.S. Congress released 68 new images linked to Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, according to AFP, a day before the deadline for the Trump administration to disclose documents it holds on the late financier and convicted sex offender.
The images are part of a larger collection of 95,000 photographs that lawmakers said last week they received from Epstein’s heirs, News.ro reported.
Deadline pressure
By publishing the images, Democrats said they aimed to increase pressure on the Trump administration to release official records related to Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 before standing trial on sex crime charges.
“It’s time for the Department of Justice to publish the truth,” Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wrote in a message posted on X.
The deadline for the administration to release the documents is Friday.
Trump stance
Donald Trump had promised major revelations about the “Epstein case” during his successful 2024 presidential campaign. In recent months, however, he has urged supporters to move on, dismissing the scandal as a Democratic “hoax.”
After long resisting disclosure, Trump signed a law in November obliging the government to make all documents in the Epstein file public, notes News.ro.
Conspiracy theories
According to News.ro, Epstein’s death on August 10, 2019, which authorities ruled a suicide, has fueled conspiracy theories that he was killed to protect powerful figures.
Some of the newly released photos show Epstein in his office with Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump. Others show him on what appears to be a private plane alongside left-wing intellectual Noam Chomsky, or posing next to filmmaker Woody Allen.
Additional images include censored passports and identity cards belonging to women from Ukraine, Russia and South Africa.
No criminal acts shown
Lawmakers noted that none of the images released so far depict criminal activity. The existence of links between Epstein and many of the people shown was already publicly known.
Last week, Democrats also published photos showing Epstein with Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, as well as Bill Gates and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.
Trump, who socialized with Epstein in the 1990s, has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and says the two fell out in the early 2000s, notes News.ro.
Sources: News.ro, AFP
