House Democrats on Wednesday released photographs and videos of the disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s home on the private Caribbean island where his accusers have said that he trafficked underage girls for sex.
Mr. Epstein, who was also accused of shuttling dozens of girls between his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla., owned two private islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands, both off the coast of St. Thomas. One of the islands, Little St. James, was where Mr. Epstein lived for the better part of two decades and was at the center of allegations that it had been a place where he sexually abused teenage girls.
The release of the cache of 10 photos and four videos of Mr. Epstein’s secluded home appeared to be the latest bid by Democrats to intensify pressure on the Justice Department to make public all of its investigative files on the convicted sex offender’s case following enactment last month of a law requiring it.
Calling the images “disturbing,” Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said the release was part of a commitment to “ensure public transparency in our investigation and to help piece together the full picture of Epstein’s horrific crimes.”
Mr. Garcia also said that the panel had received Mr. Epstein’s financial records from J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank, and that Democrats planned to release those files in the coming days.
Democrats selected the images they released on Wednesday from a larger set of material given to the Oversight Committee by law enforcement authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They were taken in 2020, the year after Mr. Epstein died in prison while in custody on federal sex-trafficking charges.
After initially demanding the Justice Department turn over its records, the committee expanded its inquiry to include a host of documents from Mr. Epstein’s estate and financial records from banks.
Taken together, they offer a glimpse at Mr. Epstein’s life on secluded islands that he used as a personal hideaway and where his accusers have said he brought girls as young as 11. Mr. Epstein’s island residence has been at the center of conspiracy theories that followed his death.
The images appear to reveal little new information about Mr. Epstein or his case. Still photographs show plainly decorated bedrooms or outdoor areas in Mr. Epstein’s home, and the videos are walk-throughs of the property.
In one photo that Democrats said was taken in Mr. Epstein’s residence, a room whose walls are adorned with at least 10 masks of men’s faces appears to have been turned into a dental office, with a chair and associated equipment. Mr. Epstein’s last girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak, was a dentist who shared an office on St. Thomas with Mr. Epstein’s shell company.
Another photo shows a room apparently being used as a library, with four armchairs and a chalkboard where a number of words were scribbled. Some of the language on the board was redacted by Democrats, but words that appear include “truth,” “music,” “deception,” and “power,” next to which are written “fin,” “phy,” “intellectual” and “political.”
The images’ release comes two weeks after President Trump, facing pressure from Democrats and Republicans, signed legislation calling on the Justice Department to release all of its files on Mr. Epstein within 30 days.
But the legislation contains significant exceptions, including a provision that protects the department from releasing files tied to continuing investigations, which could mean many documents would stay confidential.
The material that Democrats released on Wednesday came out of a separate investigative effort by the Republican-led Oversight Committee, which began an inquiry into Mr. Epstein and the handling of his case after Democrats forced a subpoena on the issue.
That inquiry led to the release in September of a sexually suggestive drawing and a note that appeared to bear Mr. Trump’s signature, a page from a book that was created for Mr. Epstein’s 50th birthday — one that Mr. Trump has insisted he did not create.
The Epstein estate also produced three email conversations that Democrats released last month that suggested Mr. Epstein believed Mr. Trump may have been more aware of his abuse than the president has acknowledged.
After Mr. Epstein died by suicide in 2019, the attorney general of the Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against his estate accusing him of bringing girls as young as 11 to Little St. James and keeping a database to track the availability and movements of women and girls.
In a settlement, the Epstein estate agreed to pay at least $105 million to the Virgin Islands, plus a portion of the proceeds of the sale of Mr. Epstein’s islands. Both islands were sold in 2023 for $60 million to an investor who said he planned to build a 25-room resort on them.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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