'Everybody knew this man': Trump says new photos of him with Epstein are 'no big deal'

Democrats released 19 new images of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey ‍Epstein with several high-profile figures.

Several photos of Donald Trump with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey ‍Epstein have been shared by House Oversight Committee Democrats. Source: SIPA USA / House Oversight Committee

US Democrats released 19 new images from the estate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey ‍Epstein, including photos of now-President Donald Trump.

Trump is featured in three of the photos shared by House Oversight Committee Democrats, who said they are reviewing more than 95,000 images produced by the estate.

In one black-and-white photo, Trump is seen smiling with several women — whose ⁠faces are redacted — on each side of him.

Other high-profile figures in the published pictures include former Democratic president Bill Clinton, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, former Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers, director Woody Allen and the ex-prince now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Also pictured are Microsoft's Bill Gates and the Virgin Group's Richard Branson.

This undated, redacted photo released shows former Trump aide Steve Bannon talking with Jeffrey Epstein. Source: AP / House Oversight Committee

A second image shows Trump standing beside Epstein, and a third, less-clear image shows him seated alongside another woman, whose face is also redacted, with his red tie loosened. It was not clear when or where the photos were taken.

"Everybody knew this man," Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.

In an undated image, Donald Trump is seen with several women whose faces have been redacted. Source: SIPA USA / House Oversight Committee

"He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody. I mean, almost — there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him. So that's no big deal."

The release comes as a deadline for an extensive release of documents related to the disgraced financier nears.

Former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Source: PA / House Oversight Committee

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump's administration "has done more for Epstein's victims than Democrats ever have".

"It's time for the media to stop regurgitating Democrat talking points and start asking Democrats why they wanted to hang around Epstein after he was convicted," she said.

Former president Bill Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and two others yet to be identified. Source: SIPA USA / House Oversight Committee

The Epstein scandal has been a political headache for Trump for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters.

Many Trump ‍voters believe Trump administration officials have covered up Epstein's ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

Richard Branson (right) with Jeffrey Epstein (centre) and another unidentified man. Source: SIPA USA / House Oversight Committee

The justice department in July said that there was no evidence to justify investigating any third parties in the Epstein case, and that it had found no "client list" or people who might have been involved in sex trafficking, or any evidence that Epstein had blackmailed anyone.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that just half of Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the Epstein case, well below his overall 85 per cent approval rating in his own party.

Former treasury secretary Larry Summers (left), his wife Elisa New (centre), and Woody Allen (right) on a plane. Source: AP / House Oversight Committee

Trump and Epstein were friends ‌during the 1990s and early 2000s, but Trump says he broke off ties before Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges.

Trump has consistently denied knowing about Epstein's abuse and sex trafficking of underage girls.

Filmmaker Woody Allen (right) with Jeffrey Epstein (left) and an unidentified woman. Source: SIPA USA / House Oversight Committee

A spokesperson for the committee, which is led by Republican chairman James Comer of Kentucky, said Democrats were politicising the investigation by "cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump".

The Democrats said they redacted the women's faces to protect the identities of Epstein's victims.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates with another unidentified man. Source: SIPA USA / House Oversight Committee

Trump signed into law last month an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill, led by Democratic representative Ro Khanna of California and Republican representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, that compels the justice department to release the Epstein files within 30 days.

19 December will mark the end of that window.

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