Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released a set of "never-before-seen" photos and videos from Jeffrey Epstein's notorious private Caribbean Island, as Washington continues to wait for the Justice Department to provide its records related to the high-profile case.
One of the photos showed a blackboard with some of the writing blurred out, while another image revealed a landline phone's rolodex with several names blacked out for privacy. Although the entire trove of Epstein's files hasn't been made public, Congress continues to release small pieces of information to address public demand for answers about the late child sex offender and his multiple sex crimes, including abusing minor girls.
Inside the Dark World of Epstein
Democrats appear keen to keep Epstein in the headlines, especially with the 2026 midterm elections on the horizon. Members of the House Oversight Committee have access to what's been called the Epstein files, and Democrats on the panel are pushing to release anything that could connect former President Donald Trump to Epstein's illegal activities.
Recent videos show scenes from Little St. James, Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he would often bring high-profile guests on his private jet, famously nicknamed the "Lolita Express."
The footage includes a dental office that's clearly been closed for some time, with masks of men's faces hanging on the walls, and a steam room that's no longer in use, where boxes of towels and linens are stacked next to pillows and personal hygiene items.
Over the summer, Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia from California was chosen to lead his party as the minority member on the House Oversight Committee, taking over in August from the late Congressman Gerry Connolly.
Garcia quickly took an aggressive stance on releasing the Epstein files. Last month, he was behind the push to publish emails suggesting that former President Trump may have known more about Epstein's crimes than he had publicly admitted.
Bombshell Emails About Trump
One of the emails, sent in April 2011 from Epstein to his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, claimed that Trump "spent hours at my house" with one of Epstein's victims, whose name was redacted. Epstein added, "I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump."
By that time, Epstein had already served a 13-month sentence in Florida for child sex crimes.
Trump, meanwhile, has said he cut ties with Epstein years earlier, claiming he kicked him out of his Mar-a-Lago club in 2007 for being "a creep."
Trump insists he was never close to Epstein, despite moving in the same social circles in New York and Florida during the 1990s and early 2000s.
