New photos released from Epstein’s estate showing Trump, Bannon, Bill Clinton and other high-profile people

Political analyst Stephen Farnsworth says the photos show ‘further evidence’ that Trump and Epstein were friends, but do not guarantee acceleration of the case.

Warning: Some of the images in this story contain graphic content.

Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee have released photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate Friday showing the many powerful figures in the late sex trafficker’s orbit, including President Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and others.

Many of the men have been previously linked to Epstein, though the photos may shed new light on the extent of those relationships.

Taken collectively, the 19 images – which the Democrats on the committee said came from Epstein’s estate – reinforce the financier was tied in the past to a wide variety of powerful and high-profile people whose ties to him are now under significant scrutiny.

One released image shows Trump with six women with leis whose faces were redacted by committee members, while another depicts what appears to be a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Trump’s face with the text, “I’m HUUUUGE!” The condoms – shown in a bowl with a “Trump condom $4.50” sign – were produced by a novelty shop in New York City named Fishs Eddy. The item is described as a “political satire condom” in the National Museum of American History’s online collection.

Other released images depict Steve Bannon and Epstein taking a photograph in a mirror; Bill Clinton with Epstein, Maxwell and another couple; and tech billionaire Bill Gates with the former Prince Andrew. Former Harvard President Larry Summers and lawyer Alan Dershowitz also appeared in pictures from the estate.

None of the released images depict any sexual misconduct nor are believed to depict underage girls. It was not immediately clear when or where they were taken, or by whom.

The Republican-led committee obtained the images from Epstein’s estate as part of its ongoing investigation. The panel has so far released tens of thousands of documents, emails and communications that it received from the Epstein estate that continue to open new lines of investigative inquiry.

On Thursday, lawyers for the estate wrote a letter to the committee noting that they could review videos and photographs they had requested “taken at any property owned, rented, operated, or used by Epstein from January 1, 1990 through August 10, 2019.”

“Like yesterday’s production, it also includes documents that may not be responsive, but that the Estate was unable to confirm whether they were taken at a property owned, rented, operated, or used by Epstein. The Estate has provided minimal redactions to these photographs; the redactions are limited to nudity,” the lawyers wrote.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told reporters the released photos were “significant,” and noted that Democrats on the panel have only combed through about a quarter of the 95,000 photos that have been handed over.

“I think anything that we release is significant. I think – clearly, I think people should be able to make judgments on their own as to what they see in these photos. For us, this is about transparency,” said Garcia.

In an earlier statement, Garcia said it was “time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends.”

“These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW,” he said.

A spokesperson for the committee accused Democrats on the panel of “cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump.”

“We received over 95,000 photos and Democrats released just a handful. Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked. Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. It is shameful Rep. Garcia and Democrats continue to put politics above justice for the survivors,” the spokesperson said.

CNN has reached out to the White House and representatives for Bannon, Clinton, Gates, Allen, Branson, Summers, Dershowitz and Mountbatten-Windsor.

Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, and a spokesperson has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein before his arrest on federal charges in 2019 and didn’t know about his crimes.

A spokesperson for Gates has repeatedly denied that Epstein ever worked for him. Gates has previously said he regrets meeting with Epstein, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2021: “It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there.”

Trump’s ties to Epstein are well known. The two were part of the same social circles in Manhattan and Palm Beach. But Trump has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, and he and his team have previously derided Epstein as a “creep” whom Trump expelled from his club.

The images released by Democrats on Friday also included images of sex toys.

In a recent batch of emails released by the committee, Epstein claimed that Trump “spent hours” with one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre. Epstein also wrote in an email that Trump “knew about the girls” – an apparent reference to Trump’s claim that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club for poaching young women who worked there.

In the wake of those emails, Trump and the White House cast the issue as a “hoax” with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the emails “prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.”

CNN’s review of thousands of pages of Epstein’s emails shows that, over the years Epstein repeatedly invoked Trump — sometimes to offer analysis of his behaviour, sometimes to gossip, and sometimes simply to position himself as someone with rare insight into the man who had become president.

Others who have been associated with Epstein have faced professional or other consequences for that relationship, even though they, too, were not accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

Summers took leave from teaching at Harvard and resigned from his position on the board of OpenAI; he has said he is “deeply ashamed” of maintaining ties to Epstein and, while stepping back from public roles, would work to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.” Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor relinquished the use of his royal titles; he has denied any allegations of misconduct.

Separately, under a law passed by Congress last month, the Justice Department has until December 19 to release all of the Epstein files in its possession.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who led the charge to circumvent GOP leadership and force the legislation, warned that the DOJ would be committing a crime if they do not abide by next week’s deadline.

“It’s a crime if they don’t. It’s not like they’re in contempt of Congress because they didn’t respond to a subpoena. This is a new law with criminal implications if they don’t follow it,” the Kentucky Republican said.

Massie noted, however, that he was “encouraged” that more grand jury materials have been released to the DOJ.

Garcia called Friday for the administration to release what they can now, rather than wait until the deadline, and noted that there are other photos that are “incredibly disturbing.”

“Right now, our plan is to demand that the president release the files, and we’ll see what he does on the, on the 19th, but I think again, these pictures, some of these photos, are really disturbing. And I know we’ve put some out today. There are many others. And some of the other photos that we did not put out today are incredibly disturbing,” he said.

By Kaitlan Collins, Annie Grayer, CNN