House Democrats release Epstein photos with Trump, Bannon, Clinton and others

House Democrats published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, featuring among others Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The 19 photographs, some of which have been seen before, represent a small number of the almost 100,000 images released to the House oversight committee that is looking into the actions and connections of Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 after he was charged with sex-trafficking offenses.

Among the notable figures shown are celebrities including the film director Woody Allen; the Microsoft founder Bill Gates; and Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire.

Three of the images feature Trump’s former political adviser Steve Bannon – two of them with Epstein, and one with Allen in a social setting.

The photographs were released without context or captions, but according to Robert Garcia, the California Democrat and ranking member of the oversight committee, they raise more questions about Epstein’s connections to wealthy individuals.

“It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends,” he said in a statement.

“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.”

A bill to release all files held by the government in relation to Epstein passed the House and Senate last month despite strong pressure from Trump, who has called the investigation a “Democrat hoax”. The justice department has until 19 December to comply. Hundreds of thousands of documents are expected to be released. A federal judge also ruled on Tuesday that the department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidante, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence over the charges.

Trump features in three of the 19 images released on Friday. In one, he is photographed with six women, some in Hawaii dress, and whose faces are blacked out. In the second, he is seen alongside Epstein listening to a woman with blond hair who appears to be sharing a joke. In the third, apparently taken aboard an aircraft, he is sitting alongside another woman with longer blond hair, and whose face is also blacked out.

Jeffrey Epstein and Woody Allen in a partially redacted photo released by House oversight Democrats. Photograph: House oversight Democrats

The president’s face in cartoon form, and the words “I’m huuuuge”, appear in another image on square packets with a sign advertising a “Trump condom” for $4.50.

Trump was close friends with Epstein for 15 years, and called him “a terrific guy”, before insisting he fell out with him and booted him as a member of his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The new photograph of the former Prince Andrew, meanwhile, shows him in a business suit alongside Gates in an unidentified setting. Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal status and titles in October over his dealings with Epstein.

The image of Clinton, which the former president looks to have autographed, shows him posing next to Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted in part for procuring teenage girls for Epstein and his associates to abuse.

The former treasury secretary Larry Summers and Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz, appear in two other images.

A collection of sex toys, including restraints, a catalog and a guide to the Japanese art of shibari (a form of bondage), appear in three more. Epstein was accused of hosting sex parties for clients at his homes in New York, Florida and at his private Caribbean island retreat, Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands.

The White House offered no immediate comment on Friday’s release. An inquiry to Branson’s office was not immediately returned. NBC News reported no immediate response from any of the unidentifiable individuals in the photographs, all of whom have denied wrongdoing, the outlet said.

In a statement, the Democratic members of the House oversight and government reform committee promised that more photographs would be released in the coming days from the batch it had just received from the Epstein estate.

“This latest production contains over 95,000 photos, including images of the wealthy and powerful men who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein,” it said.

“Images also include thousands of photographs of women and Epstein properties. Committee Democrats are reviewing the full set of photos and will continue to release photos to the public in the days and weeks ahead. Committee Democrats are committed to protecting the identities of the survivors.”

Friday’s release is the latest of a number of similar recent events. Last week several still images and videos were published of Epstein’s Caribbean island, including bedrooms, a living room, what appeared to be a dentist’s office, an office or library, and a chalkboard on which several unexplained words were written, such as “fin”, “intellectual”, “deception” and “power”.

The New York Times reported that Epstein’s last girlfriend was a dentist who shared an office with one of his shell companies.

The island of Little Saint James was one of two Epstein owned in the Caribbean. Locals named it “pedophile island” for the activities that went on there. In 2022, Epstein’s estate reached a $100m settlement with the attorney general of the US Virgin Islands over allegations that “dozens of young women and children were trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted and held captive”.

Last month, the Democrats released images of emails suggesting Trump knew about Epstein’s conduct, and that he “spent hours” with one victim at Epstein’s house. The White House identified the woman as Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, and noted she never accused Trump of any misconduct.