Democrats release Epstein Island photos as Maxwell argues against release of grand jury transcripts

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released more than 150 still photos and more than a dozen short video clips of the Virgin Islands estate of convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, the same day lawyers for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell argued against releasing grand jury materials in her criminal case.

The photos – which do not show any people – were taken by the US Virgin Islands government in 2020 during a civil lawsuit against Epstein’s estate. Some of the material appeared similar to material previously published by Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe several months ago.

The collection includes an image of a room with a dentist’s chair in the middle and several masks on the wall, as well as an image of a blackboard containing the words “power,” “deception,” “intellectual,” “politician,” and “music,” as well as several other redacted words.

Epstein was known to have dental chairs in his home, and video from a police search of Epstein’s Palm Beach home in 2005 showed a room with a dental chair and equipment.

In another photo posted on Wednesday, a large sign reading “No Trespassing” is seen leaning on a rock near the beach. An image containing a close-up of the phone shows the speed dial buttons of several of Epstein’s employees.

Short videos show detailed steps of the bedroom, bathroom, coastline, helipad and pool area.

After the initial release of dozens of photos and four short videos, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee criticized the panel’s Democrats for “headline-chasing” by releasing the material as “never-before-seen” when similar material had been previously released. The later version contains over 100 additional images and videos.

Democrats on the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

A spokesman for the committee’s GOP majority also criticized Democrats for once again releasing only a small subset of records.

“The House Oversight Committee received nearly 5,000 documents in response to Chairman Comer’s subpoenas to JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, as well as his request to the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the GOP spokesperson said. “The majority is reviewing this material and will make it public soon, just as the committee has already done with the more than 65,000 pages produced during this investigation.”

“It is strange that Democrats are once again publishing selective information, as they have done before,” the statement said.

The materials released later in the day included 15 additional videos and more than 150 additional photos, including a framed photo of Epstein and Maxwell greeting Pope John Paul II, which had been previously released.

One photo showed a computer screen that appeared to be part of a security system, and another showed a white bathrobe hanging on the door outside the bathroom.

Other photos showed a chef’s gourmet kitchen, a beach, a pier and one of Epstein’s boats called “Little Sea.”

Epstein’s estate agreed in 2022 to settle its lawsuits with the US Virgin Islands, paying the government $105 million plus a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of Epstein’s estate, and repaying tax breaks Epstein’s companies received over the years from the USVI.

Maxwell’s lawyer on Wednesday told a federal judge in New York that she is not taking a formal position on the Justice Department’s recent request to unseal grand jury transcripts from her criminal case — but she also argues that releasing the materials would affect her ability to get a fair retrial.

“Knowing that President Trump has signed the Epstein Transparency Act into law, Ms. Maxwell does not take a position on the government’s request to unseal the grand jury transcripts and modify the protective order,” Maxwell’s attorneys, David Marcus and Melissa Madrigal, wrote.

“At the same time, Ms. Maxwell respectfully notes that she will soon file a habeas corpus petition. “The release of grand jury materials from her case, which contain untested and unproven allegations, would create undue prejudice so severe that it would preclude the possibility of a fair retrial if Ms. Maxwell’s habeas corpus petition is successful,” the attorneys wrote.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 On five counts of aiding Epstein’s abuse of underage girls, she was unsuccessful in her appeal of her 2021 conviction to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, but she and her lawyers have indicated she intends to file a habeas corpus petition in the Southern District of New York.

Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019.

The Epstein Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress last month and signed into law by President Donald Trump after backlash the administration received of MAGA supporters seeking the release of the materials, contains exceptions that would allow the Justice Department to withhold records that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly and temporarily designed.”

Before Maxwell’s direct appeals were exhausted, the Justice Department cited its ongoing case as justification for denying the public records request, according to court records in the Justice Department’s Freedom of Information Act case related to the Epstein files.

It is not clear whether the Justice Department would seek to withhold records based on the unlikely possibility that Maxwell would get a new trial.

However, the Justice Department has already cited the possibility of Maxwell being retried in other cases as justification for withholding some records related to the Justice Department and FBI’s searches and redactions of the Epstein files.

In response to a lawsuit filed by Bloomberg reporter Jason Leopold earlier this year, the Justice Department cited a Freedom of Information Act exemption that allows the withholding of records that, if released, “would reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

“Although Ms. Maxwell’s direct appellate rights have been exhausted, her counsel has stated that she intends to seek habeas corpus,” the Justice Department wrote in a court filing on November 24, five days after Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act.

“[L]“Logic suggests that the presence of a pending application…makes it reasonably foreseeable that the enforcement action (i.e., a new trial) would be reasonably expected, creating an expectation that the 7(a) exemption may apply to protect material the release of which would reasonably be expected to be inconsistent with that new trial,” the DOJ wrote.

ABC News’ Lauren Peeler contributed to this report.