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House Democrats have published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, featuring among others Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The 19 photographs in the initial drop – some of which have been seen before – plus another 70 released later Friday afternoon represent a small number of the almost 100,000 images released to the House oversight committee, which is looking into the conduct 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 in the first release are celebrities including the film director Woody Allen; the Microsoft founder Bill Gates; and Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire.
The White House responded to the release in a statement accusing Democrats of selectively “cherry-picking” the photographs for political purposes and “to try and create a false narrative”.
“The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, insisting that “the Trump administration has done more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents, and calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends”.
Democrats release more Epstein photos with Trump and others
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.
Trump features in three of the 19 images initially released on Friday. In one, he is photographed with six women, whose faces are blacked out.
House Republicans propose last-minute healthcare plan
With health insurance premiums set to rise sharply for at least 22 million Americans who purchase their coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces using tax credits that will expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts, the US House speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican alternative late Friday.
Johnson’s bill comes as his party refuses to extend the enhanced tax subsidies for people who buy policies through the ACA, dubbed Obamacare by opponents of the 2010 law. Those subsidies help lower premiums for Americans who do not get insurance through employers.
US churches use nativity scenes to push back on ICE
According to some people behind the displays, portraying the ancient story of Christ’s birth in a contemporary political frame helps bring attention to the Trump administration’s agenda. They say that the holy family’s status as refugees represents the real fears and experiences of families in their communities, including separation from loved ones and the deportation of working family members leading to a loss of income.
US lawmakers decry VA’s ‘draconian approach to non-citizen database’
Exclusive: More than 20 members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and homeland security officials after the Guardian revealed the VA is compiling a report on all non-US citizens “employed by or affiliated with” the government agency that will then be shared with other federal agencies, including immigration authorities.
Judge temporarily blocks officials from re-detaining Ábrego García
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit immigration officials from detaining Kilmar Ábrego García just hours before he was scheduled to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore. The judge says officials cannot re-detain him until the court conducts a hearing on the motion for the temporary restraining order.
Trump sued by preservation group over White House ballroom project
The legal challenge, filed on Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the US district court for the District of Columbia, represents the most significant attempt yet to stop Trump’s 90,000-sq-ft addition to the White House complex. The organization is seeking a temporary restraining order to freeze all construction activities until proper federal oversight procedures are completed.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 11 December 2025.
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