Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter

Image source, US House Oversight Committee

Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee have released another batch of photographs subpoenaed from the estate of disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

From an inmate request form, to high-profile figures, and development plans for one of his private Caribbean islands, the content of the 68 images was wide-ranging, with no extra context provided for any of them.

Some were particularly striking: a screenshot of a text conversation saying "I will send u girls now", a person's body with quotes from the novel Lolita scrawled across it, and a swathe of passports - names redacted - but belonging to women from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and more.

It's important to note that simply appearing in these photographs does not imply any wrongdoing.

The photographs "were selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos received from the estate" said a statement put out by the Democrats behind the release.

Republicans have previouslyaccused Democrats of "cherry-picking" images and "making targeted redactions".

These are just the latest piecemeal release from about 95,000 images the committee currently holds.

Moreover, these are not the long-awaited "Epstein files".

All eyes are now on the Department of Justice which must release the full trove of information it holds relating to its criminal investigations into Epstein by tomorrow.

• We're ending our live coverage here, but you can read more in our news article.

How BBC Verify checks new Epstein releasespublished at 20:16 GMT 18 December 2025

20:16 GMT 18 December 2025

By Lucy Gilder and Shayan Sardarizadeh

As with previous Epstein releases from Democratic lawmakers in the US, BBC Verify has played a key role in helping colleagues sift through the latest batch of photos associated with the convicted sex offender.

The first thing we do is check if the images are new or whether they’ve previously existed online.

To do this we perform a reverse image search, which allows us to find and source any digital photo that has previously appeared on the internet.

For instance, when Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability released a photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Bill Gates last week, a reverse image search confirmed that the photo was captured at an event in London in 2018 and had already been made public.

Sometimes there are people in the photos who are not immediately recognisable, so we try to identify them using facial recognition tools. This can provide a match with other images of that person that have appeared online.

Importantly, facial recognition alone is not always reliable or accurate in identifying individuals, so further corroboration is often needed alongside it.

As we've been reporting, much of the context behind the 68 photos released today remains unclear.

They have been released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, which received them after the committee subpoenaed Epstein's estate in August.

The group of Democrats say they received 95,000 images from Epstein's estate, and that they came without context.

"Therefore the images are presented as received," a press release from ranking member Robert Garcia says, adding they are providing them as a "representative sample" for "transparency".

Many of the images contain redactions, with text or faces blacked out.

Those redactions were not made by the BBC. We do not know what information they cover.

The Democrats who released the images did not provide exact guidelines, but said: "Oversight Democrats redact images and personally identifiable information from victims and survivors, and of young women when it is unknown whether they are a victim of Epstein’s abuse."

Republicans on the committee have accused the Democrats of "cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump".

Democrat pressure mounts on Trump justice departmentpublished at 19:30 GMT 18 December 2025

19:30 GMT 18 December 2025

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington DC

The release of the latest handpicked images from Democrats comes just one day before the deadline for the justice department to release the broader Epstein files - and can be seen as part of a mounting pressure campaign.

"As we approach the deadline for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession," the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, said in a statement.

"We must end this White House cover-up, and the DOJ must release the Epstein files now," he added.

The justice department is now under enormous pressure to release the files in a timely manner and before the deadline.

Notably, it comes from both sides of the political spectrum, with notable figures from within the "MAGA-sphere" also calling for the files release.

One Democrat, Ro Khanna - who, along with Republican Thomas Massie pushed for a floor vote on the issue - has publicly wondered whether House sessions on Friday have been cancelled because of an impending release.

As we've been reporting, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released several batches of photos out of 95,000 they have received from Jeffrey Epstein's estate.

They say it's to provide the public with "transparency into a representative sample and to "provide insights into Epstein's network and his extremely disturbing activities".

But Republicans on the committee have accused the Democrats of "cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump".

None of the latest photos include pictures of Trump, but last week's drop did.

Trump was a friend of Epstein's for years, but the president has said they fell out in about 2004, years before Epstein was first arrested.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein - and there is no suggestion that appearing in the photos implies any wrongdoing,

In November, Trump signed into law a bill ordering the release of government files on Jeffrey Epstein, saying he was "all for it".

But that marked a major reversal from his previous position where he dismissed calls to do so as a Democrat-led "hoax" to "deflect" attention away from his party's agenda.

We've not heard anything from senior Republicans yet following this latest photo release.

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

We are still looking through the latest images from the Epstein estate, released today by US House Democrats.

Here's a recap:

• A batch of 68 photos in total has been released today
• They include prominent figures such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, intellectual and activist Noam Chomsky, and former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon - all three have previously acknowledged having interactions with Epstein but there is no suggestion of wrongdoing

• One images shows a screenshot of messages from an unknown sender to an unknown recipient saying "I will send u girls now"
• Several of the new photos show handwritten messages on different parts of a person's body - the writing appears to be quotes from the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• Also in the release are pictures of Epstein's passport, maps, and images showing men who we have not yet identified sitting with Epstein

A reminder: There is no suggestion that appearing in the photos implies any wrongdoing.

A screenshot showing what appear to be a series of WhatsApp messages from an unknown sender is also included in the latest release of images.

One message refers to a "friend scout" who it says has asked for "1000$ per girl". The same sender's next message says "I will send u girls now", and then another reading "maybe someone will be good for J?"

It's unclear whose phone these messages have been sent from, who the recipient is, or who "J" is.

Also in the chain of messages is a description listing the details of someone's name, height, measurements and weight - all redacted. The message indicates this person would be travelling from a city in Russia.

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Image source, House Oversight Committee

A picture of someone holding a bottle of medication also appears in the latest batch of photos.

On the bottle is a label with the word "Phenazopyridine" - a pain reliever used for discomfort caused by infection or irritation of the urinary tract.

There is also a picture of two bows.

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Image source, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

Also among the collection of photos appears to be an inmate request form from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The form is dated Christmas Day 2008, and features a name and date of birth, both of which have been redacted.

Under a section titled "State the reason for submitting this request", there is a collection of handwritten words.

Among the writing are references to Paris and Dubai and the words "I love you".

The images released today come from Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability - the main investigative committee in the US House of Representatives.

The committee has been investigating the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, subpoenaing the late paedophile's estate in August.

Since then, the Democrats on the committee have been releasing batches of photos related to Epstein, and continue to call for the release of the so-called Epstein files - see our last post.

Republicans, who are in the majority on the committee, have previously accused Democrats of "cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump".

Image source, Reuters

Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee have released a statement after they released more photos from the Epstein estate.

They say the Epstein estate did not provide context for the photos, but the Oversight Democrats describe the newly released images as "passports of women whom Jeffrey Epstein and his conspirators were engaging, photos of rich and powerful men in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit, and concerning text messages about recruiting women for Jeffrey Epstein".

"Photos were selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos received from the estate, and to provide insights into Epstein’s network and his extremely disturbing activities," it says.

The statement says the committee has thousands of images in its posession from the Epstein estate "both graphic and mundane".

Top Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, says "these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession", and urges it to release the Epstein files now.

For context: Congress has passed a bill - signed by Trump - which means the justice department has to release the Epstein files by 19 December, although there are some caveats.

Image source, US House Oversight Committee

Also included in this new image drop appears to be a site plan for Great St James island in the US Virgin Islands.

Epstein bought a smaller island - Little St James - in 1998, but acquired the larger Great St James in 2016 for $22.5m.

These photos indicate he had drawn up plans to develop the 161-acre island by building multiple homes, offices and a pool.

You can see Pillsbury Sound, a waterway in the US Virgin Islands, marked on the bottom right of the drawing.

The site plan is covered in red pen markings and a notes section labelling different parts of the property.

Alongside this are what appear to be nine other site drawings and construction drawings, including plans for dock shelters.

Image source, US House Oversight Committee

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Live reporter

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Today's photo release is just the latest in a series from the House Oversight Committee, which received around 95,000 images from the Epstein estate per an August subpoena.

Here's some of what's been released on previous days:

• Photos of Epstein's sprawling property in the US Virgin Islands, showing bedrooms, bathrooms, a room with a dentist's chair and masks of men's faces on the walls, and an office/library room with words like "power" and "deception" written on a blackboard
• Photos of other wealthy, powerful people - some of which also include Epstein - including Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Larry Summers, Woody Allen, Alan Dershowitz, Steven Bannon, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
• Photos of art in Epstein's property, including statues of Greek mythological creatures and a small statue of a half-naked woman hovering over what looks like a chamber pot
• Several intimate photos, including one of Epstein in a bathtub, one of a variety of sex toys, and a close-up of Epstein with what appears to be a swollen upper lip

As a reminder, being depicted in these images does not imply wrongdoing.

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Several of the photos that have just been released include men whose identities we are currently working to establish.

Some of these photos appear to be in social settings, such as eating and cooking dinner. In some, a group of men are sat at a table together with Epstein.

The photos have been released without context - we're working to bring you the details.

Several photos of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon appear in this latest release of files from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.

The setting and clothes in the image suggest they may have been taken at the same time as photos released on 12 December - this time from a different angle.

Bannon was one of Trump’s closest advisers in the run up to the 2016 election, and in the early days of his first administration. He resigned from the White House in August 2017.

There is no suggestion that appearing in the photos implies any wrongdoing.

Image source, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

Image source, US House Oversight Committee

Two photos in today's release show Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates standing with women whose faces have been blacked out.

It's unclear who the women are or if they are two different women.

Gates has previously said he made "a huge mistake" in spending time with Epstein.

He told CNN that the two had "several dinners" about a philanthropy project, but that the project did not emerge and their relationship ended.

A reminder: There is no suggestion that appearing in the photos implies any wrongdoing.

Image source, US House Oversight Committee

Two of the newly-released images show Epstein sitting alongside linguist Noam Chomsky on what appears to be an aircraft.

The 97-year-old professor and public intellectual has previously appeared in Epstein-related documents, including correspondence about academic or personal matters.

Chomsky previously told the Wall Street Journal that Epstein had helped him move money between his accounts, which did not involve "one penny from Epstein". Chomsky also said of Epstein: "I knew him and we met occasionally".

A reminder: There is no suggestion that appearing in the photos implies any wrongdoing.

Image source, House Committee on Oversight

Image source, House Committee on Oversight

Several of the new photos show handwritten messages on different parts of a person's body.

The writing appears to be quotes from the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - a copy of which can be seen in the background of one of the photographs.

The context of the photos and whether the writing is on the same person's body or several different people is unclear.

One message, which is written on a foot, says "she was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock".

Another message says "she was Lola in slacks". While a third says "she was Polly at school".

For context: Lolita tells the story of a young girl who was groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Image source, House Oversight Committee

Image source, House Oversight Committee

The photos just released include a number of photos of passports and identity documents from around the world.

Most the information on the documents, like names and birthdays, is redacted. Several of the passports and IDs are marked as female for gender, including ones from Russia, Czech Republic, South Africa, Ukraine, and Lithuania.

The above photo of Epstein's passport is also included.

We're just looking through the 68 photos now.

Among the images are diagrams of building plans, photos with several people, passports and photos of Jeffrey Epstein.

The images have been shared without context - we're going through them now and will bring you more shortly.