[0:01]Good afternoon. You're watching Sky News today. I'm Matt Barbett. It's just coming up to 4:00. Our breaking news this afternoon. In the last hour, there's been a new release of Epstein
[0:11]photos. This time containing uh images showing Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Bill Clinton, amongst others with the former convicted pedophile. The latest drop has been made by the Democrats on
[0:22]the House Oversight Committee, which obtained them from the Epstein estate. It all comes ahead of the US government's deadline to share all of its material, the Epstein files, by next
[0:32]Friday. Our US correspondent David Blevins joins me now. And David, this is the tip of the iceberg. Yes. The Epstein Transparency Act passed
[0:44]by the House of Representatives, the Senate, and signed by the President of the United States himself a couple of weeks ago gives the Department of Justice until the end of next week to
[0:54]release what we describe often as the Epstein files in full. That's not what has been released today, but this material is expected to feature among
[1:04]those files. The oversight committee on Capitol Hill, that's the committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein, has received some 95,000 images from the
[1:15]Epstein estate. And Democrats on that committee have chosen to release 19 of those photos. Three of them are pictures of the President of the United States. There's one of former President Bill
[1:27]Clinton and another picture shows Andrew Mountbatton Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, alongside Bill Gates. Always very important to stress that just
[1:36]appearing in an image is no indication or even suggestion of wrongdoing. Our colleagues at NBC have reached out to these people for comment, but they have
[1:46]repeatedly in the past denied any wrongdoing and any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. Now, Robert Garcia, who is the ranking member for the
[1:56]Democrats uh on the uh oversight committee, says this is the time for the White House cover up to end and for justice to be brought for the survivors
[2:06]of Jeffrey Epstein. That's why he says these images have been released. He describes them as disturbing photos that raise more questions about Epstein and his relationship with some of the most
[2:18]powerful men in the world. and he says the Democrats on the committee will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must
[2:27]release all the files now, he adds. But since he released that statement, we've had another statement from the House Oversight Committee itself. And that one
[2:37]accuses the Democrats of cherrypicking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative around President Trump. Uh, the committee says
[2:48]they received over 95,000 photos and the Democrats have released just a handful. They go on to say the Democrats hoax against President Trump has been
[2:59]completely debunked. They claim nothing in the documents they've received shows any wrongdoing and suggest it is shameful that the Democrats have chosen to release the pictures. They say that
[3:10]is putting politics above justice for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. David, as you say, being in a picture with Jeffrey Epstein signifies nothing more than people being there at
[3:21]the same time in the same place as him. Nothing necessarily about the depth of friendship. However, we do know that some people, we've just seen Gain Maxwell pictured next to him. They were very close and as we were saying in the
[3:32]last hour, she subsequently paid the price for that, serving time in prison. We just saw Steve Bannon there. But there are people in these images that we are familiar with who have suffered uh
[3:42]the consequences of their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. We've seen well the former Prince Andrew who no longer is Prince Andrew because his titles were stripped from him. He is now goes by Mr.
[3:53]Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, not in these images. Uh, but we know he had a relationship with Jeffrey Epste Peter Mandelson who lost his job as the UK
[4:02]ambassador to the US this year. Uh, because that relationship went on longer than perhaps was previously realized. And we know that due to emails being released and there is uh the former
[4:12]Prince Andrew in a picture uh there with Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Um, we can bring in Tom Chesher now, our data and forensics correspondent uh to
[4:24]talk more about this. And and Tom, let's just talk about well the data because there's a huge amount of it been released and a huge amount of it we're
[4:32]waiting to see. Not just the 95,000 images that the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have in their possession, but of course the vast
[4:42]amount of data that features uh in the Epstein files that plenty of people, both Democrats and some Republicans, want to see released. >> Yeah, there's a huge amount of data here. We'll be going through these
[4:53]latest uh images, but as you say, 95,000 images released to this committee. We've only seen 19 of them. and the Republicans on that committee complaining this is very targeted and
[5:04]cherrypicked. Certainly within these images there is an emphasis on the President Donald Trump and again anyone in these images is not accused necessarily of any wrongdoing. This is simply being in a photo and being part
[5:16]of these documents. But look as you see there is this emphasis on Donald Trump uh pictured with these women whose pictures have been redacted. And again to that point about the sort of uh what the Democrats might be trying to do in
[5:28]terms of pressure. They've come up with pictures like this. So 95,000 images and this is the salient image they've gone from of these uh Donald Trump uh themed condoms. And then of course uh those
[5:39]close to Donald Trump, Steve Bannon here pictured in Jeffrey Epstein's office. Um you can see that and then later on he's pictured uh with um you know speaking to
[5:50]other people, Woody Allen there. Um so again this is not necessarily um sort of alleging anything. This is pressure I think to get that really big release the actual Epstein documents coming out. Um
[6:02]what it does of course paint a picture of is you know this is a man uh whose network whose influences was in the highest places is Bill Gates uh Andrew Mountbass and Windsor as he's now called
[6:13]formerly Prince Andrew. This does paint a picture of that but what we don't have is that really big data drop. We are uh supposed to have that by the 19th of December, next Friday. That's going to
[6:25]have a lot in it. We're also expecting banking information, too. There's going to be a lot to go through here. And those 95,000 images, this is uh a selection of those. Uh, and it sort of reinforces the picture we have of
[6:36]Jeffrey Epstein, of his relationships, the people who he knew, the people he entertained, uh, those connections he formed, uh, without telling us more, without any of the sort of smoking gun that maybe some people are hoping for
[6:48]when we get the full Epstein files. >> Yeah. Yeah. And just just on the images, Tom, people will be seeing these 19 images that we're sort of rotating
[6:59]through, if you like, and thinking, well, where are the rest of them? 95,000. Why don't they drop them all at once? But clearly there are legal ramifications for that kind of thing. >> Yeah, and that's really important to
[7:10]know, especially with the upcoming release if indeed it does happen on the 19th. Um, it has been contentious, as David has been saying, but it's also subject to various amounts of oversight. So, it is within the power of the
[7:22]Department of Justice uh to redact or withhold anything uh that might affect an ongoing investigation. And they have said there is an ongoing investigation.
[7:31]Also, they can redact it on national security grounds and that could be drawn pretty widely. This is Donald Trump's Department of Justice and if things are embarrassing uh for him, is that
[7:43]embarrassing for the US? Does that hurt him when it comes to you know international relations um US foreign policy? Um so there are those sorts of caveats in there and also there's just
[7:53]such a tremendous amount all the images we've seen the depositions we've seen um there's a huge amount of evidence gathered as both uh as part of these two sort of trials that Jeffrey Epstein uh
[8:05]was going through um before uh before before he killed himself. So there's a lot to wade through there and they have to go through all of that. Um just a huge huge amount of material before it's
[8:16]released to the public and then you know journalists here on the other side of the all across the world are going to go through that with a fine tooth comb. Um but this is where we are now. This is
[8:27]very much sort of vibes rather than hard data. It's not banking data. Uh it's not depositions. It's not things like that. It's not sort of discussion of what happened after Jeffrey Epstein's first trial. Um again part of this pressure
[8:39]tactic um that has been pretty successful from the Democrats on that committee to try and maintain pressure on the story, interest on the story, pressure on US President Donald Trump as well.
[8:51]>> Yes. And from their point of view, it seems to be having an effect and and that's personified really Tom, isn't it, by Marjorie Taylor Green and her spectacular falling out with Donald
[9:02]Trump. She was previously one of his most fervent cheerleaders and she gave short shrift to plenty of our journalists asking questions. But they've had a spectacular falling out
[9:13]precisely because of the Epstein files >> and exactly that. I think this is an issue that um has been pretty hard for Donald Trump and the wider MAGA movement. um part of his re-election
[9:24]campaign uh which you know his supporters love to hear is they're going to release the Epstein files and people hoping for that and then the delays that happened as a result of that because
[9:34]clearly it is a huge distraction for the president. Uh it's worrying for a lot of people perhaps involved in those situations. Again just being in these
[9:43]pictures isn't evidence of any sort of wrongdoing. Um but it has split MAGA pretty much down the middle. And the problem is that if you campaign on you say I'm going to release all these files
[9:54]uh don't worry there's nothing to see here and then you delay you proaragate you dither um people are going to start uh sort of feeling the worst and the result of that pressure which you know forced that change in the law that
[10:04]forced that 19th of December deadline. In the meantime the steady drip drip of images like this it ratches up that pressure a Friday uh is going to carry
[10:15]over the weekend uh into next week. Um this just simply does not go away. And the issue then that you're going to have is when those the actual files themselves are released. If there are those exemptions on national security
[10:26]grounds, on the grounds that there are ongoing investigations, criminal potentially criminal civil investigations happening. If there is stuff left out, those clamors don't go away. It's very hard to draw a line on this and say this is absolutely
[10:38]everything. So this is where we are and it is just the constant rolling story for Donald Trump. >> Tom, thank you so much. Well, joining me now to discuss this is Freddy Haywood,
[10:49]US correspondent for the New Statesman. Freddy, good to see you. Thanks for joining us. Uh, well, quickly, your reaction to what the Democrats have released this afternoon. >> Well, the pressure is building and this
[11:00]is a political uh move from them. They want to ensure that the administration do release those files and they want to keep the story going. This is a big problem for Donald Trump and as you
[11:10]said, this is related to the broader politics within the MAGA movement. I think it's part of the uh broader disjuncture between those in the movement who thought that they were
[11:21]going to Washington to fight the establishment uh and they've realized to their own charrin that perhaps Donald Trump was a bigger part of the establishment than they thought.
[11:33]Drain the swamp was the term that he used in his first term. And it was during his first term, as it happens, that Jeffrey Epstein seemed to have taken his own life in prison as well in
[11:44]2019. But what we learn from these photos, of course, keen to stress, whoever is in them is not guilty of anything other than happen to be in the same place at
[11:55]the same time as Jeffrey Epstein or Gain Maxwell, as we're seeing in this image of Bill Clinton. And there is Donald Trump in a picture of a woman whose face
[12:05]has been redacted there. But nevertheless, uh, we see them in these rarified places, film sets and private islands and private jets, and it's
[12:15]another glimpse into the highly connected world of a certain echelon of British and American society. >> Completely. I don't think we should be
[12:26]surprised that rich and powerful people uh socialize together and plan their moves together. That is the the nature of our society. I think what's different
[12:35]now is it's being paraded in front of our eyes with such a severity and and and such a a blatantness that it is causing a bit of anger. Uh and that is a
[12:47]contradiction that that Donald Trump has been struggling to grapple with since he returned to office. >> Yeah, Freddy. Um, no reaction yet uh as far as I know from the White House on
[12:58]this. These were released by the Democrats on the oversight committee which is Republicanled and the Republicans on there have said exactly what you've sort of suggested that they're doing this for political
[13:09]reasons. The drip drip drip is to try to push Donald Trump in doing what he said he would do and release the Epstein files. And it begs that question. I mean, this is the key question to all of
[13:20]it. If there was nothing in there that would concern him, then you'd think he would have released them yesterday. >> Yes, I think that's partly true, but this is also a big political problem for
[13:32]him regardless of what's in it because of going back to those tensions within the movement. There are people that are extremely conspiratorial on the right
[13:43]and on the left occasionally. Uh, and this is this sort of toemic conspiracy theory. There's a lot that's very true and we always have to remember that that uh uh that's part of the reason that
[13:53]it's had such impact. But there's also a part of it that is delving into u stuff that we don't yet have evidence for. Maybe that will come out in the future.
[14:03]But yeah, we have to always um talk about what we know rather than talk about the some of the speculation, the conspiracy theories that are going on. But going forwards, Donald Trump has said that he will release the files. I
[14:15]mean, I think as you spoke about earlier, there are some caveats within the Epstein bill that went through uh parliament that give him some leeway and we already have seen his control over
[14:26]the DOJ. So, we can imagine that he will exercise that. But, um this is not going away so far and I think uh Donald Trump will be worried about this continuing uh
[14:37]over Christmas. >> But we know Freddy, don't we? When there's a vacuum, people are keen to fill it. And look what whatever the facts of the matter here, we may at some point learn those if those files are
[14:49]released. The perception right now is that there is some sort of conspiracy and people are are winging into that vacuum and filling it with their thoughts. >> Yeah. And that's always a problem. I
[15:00]mean that's the argument that you'll hear from people like Roer in Congress who is saying that what's very important now is that we have transparency that we find out what's happened and and
[15:10]actually that's the best way in which we can avoid the the more nefarious conspiracy theories and hold people that need to be held to account um rather
[15:21]than speculating about what we don't know. So this but this is a toemic issue in the in American politics right now. It it's something that's not consuming everything, but it's always there in the
[15:32]background and and it and it really gets the the the the tricky position that Donald Trump is in whereby he claims to be a populist, but whether it's on tax
[15:42]cuts or or spending or or now on this this sort of broader social cultural phenomenon that is the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, how does he say to voters that
[15:52]that put him in office to, as you say, drain the swamp when he is constantly ly associated with the establishment. >> Yeah. And Freddy, I mean, gi given that
[16:02]this is your beat, is this harming him? This we're seeing this in his ratings. We've seen, of course, we've seen some Republicans cross the floor to vote with uh Democrats to get stuff moving. We've
[16:14]seen the spectacular fallout, as I mentioned earlier, with Marjgerie Taylor Green. Are we seeing those in his MAGA base that put him in office for a second time start to question their decision
[16:25]and ask questions of the man they wanted to be president? I think that's right. But I also think inevitably he is sort of fading from the scene. Um which sounds silly to say, but we have to if
[16:36]we think it's a sort of decade or or 5 years uh a time frame, then he said he's probably not going to stand for another election. So, inevitably the
[16:47]conversation switches to who are the people coming up behind him? Who are the people that are leading the movement going forward? I mean, Donald Trump's a very um old person. He's been in politics for a very long time now. Uh
[16:59]again, it seems silly to say, but the the questions uh the question we should always be asking about the MAGA movement is where is it going next? Who's who are the leaders? And if Donald Donald Trump
[17:10]has lo lost his grip over the movement, which I think he has done to some extent, then um where's it going to go in the next 10 years? >> Yes. Yes. Let's stick to the here and now for the time being. And I'd love you
[17:21]to stay there, Freddy, because we are going to play now uh a reaction from the House Democrat uh House Democratic leader Hakee Jeff. He's been answering questions about from reporters about the
[17:32]latest release of these images. Let's take a listen. Well, the so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration
[17:40]needs to comply with the law. And we, as Democrats, led by by Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, are going to continue to make sure that
[17:51]we're holding this administration accountable. These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to
[18:02]release the Epstein files. Then they come into office and do the exact opposite. obstruct and obuscate, hide stuff from the American people. All we want is full
[18:11]transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That's what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded, and we're going to make sure
[18:22]that the Department of Justice complies. >> That was Hakeim Jeff, the House Democrat leader. Freddy Haywood, US correspondent for the New Statesman, is still with us. Do you know what, Freddy? It's an
[18:32]important reminder, isn't it? in the middle of all of this and some of these people whose faces we know and places they go are victims are people whose lives were
[18:43]ruined by this. I mean and the the most prominent one of course being Virginia D Frey who sadly uh took her own life uh not too long ago and subsequently a book
[18:53]she wrote uh came out that's of of prime importance in all this the situations that they've suffered >> completely but just on the politics what Hakee was saying there we should also
[19:04]see this as a moment whereby Congress is reasserting itself is one of the very few issues where you've seen a disjunction between congressional Republicans in the White House. Donald
[19:15]Trump so far in his second term has been able to grip what his colleagues in the Republican party do and and this is yet
[19:24]another moment where actually they've gone well you're not weak enough for us to disobey you but this is a big enough issue for us to not do what you want us to do. That was fascinating. I remember
[19:35]being in the House of Representatives when the uh the Epstein files bill was going through and there was this sense of reassertion. It's mild. We have to remember it's extremely mild. We live in
[19:46]a in a in a era where the presidency is um extremely powerful, but it was it was a little bit of a gear shift and I think that's worth noting.
[19:56]>> Yes, it's a reminder, isn't it? We're coming up to the year anniversary of his inauguration. It was prior to that he said he was going to release the files and here we are nearly a year in and and
[20:08]uh and no sign of them and also as you touched upon there he he has uh presided largely over a huge raft of executive orders that's how he's wanted to carry
[20:19]out his presidency but at some point those instruments of the democracy of the United States uh he comes up against like you say the the house the congress
[20:29]uh the representatives coming in getting in his way effectively. >> Yeah. To a small degree. So there's so many of those executive orders are still going through the Supreme Court. So we
[20:40]don't yet know where the president's powers will be within a year or so because those will really matter. What we could be seeing here and I think what we've already witnessed and but it could get worse is this expansion of the of
[20:52]presidential power. You can put this back in a a story that goes back to JFK and you have to look back at the war on terror and the expansion of powers that we saw there. But this is another step
[21:01]change in that relationship between uh the the different branches of the US government. A big question that is on some Republicans minds is well what does what do the Democrats do if they get
[21:11]that power uh in 2028 if they assume the presidency? Would they turn turn around to the Republicans and use some of the power that uh Donald Trump is using? Or will they try and say okay well we need
[21:22]to be a little bit more magnanimous and recognize that this has been awful for the constitutional setup in America. That's one of the key questions for American politics right now.
[21:33]>> Look, important to remind people that some of those images we've been showing denote nothing more than people being in the same place at the same time when a photo is taken with Jeffrey Epstein. But when you see Andrew Mountbatten Windsor
[21:43]in some of those images, we're all fully aware of the ramifications uh of his association with Jeffrey Epstein latterly losing all his titles and going by the name Mr. Andrew
[21:55]Mountbatten Windsor. Um uh Peter Mandlesson not in those images, but we know that his association going on for longer than we thought previously with Jeffrey Epstein led to his uh removal as
[22:07]the UK ambassador to uh the US. Um just to finish off, Freddy, the next step really is hearing what the White House thinks about this. We've got a sense of
[22:17]what the Republicans on the oversight committee think of this. We've obviously just heard from Hakee Jeff as well. Um what do you expect they're going to do? Do you think they really really could
[22:27]release the files by the 19th, which is the the deadline, or as your suspicion, we're not going to see them? >> Well, we've already seen many files. When people talk about the Jeffrey Epstein files, they sometimes think that
[22:38]there is a single word document that will reveal the the truth of what's happened in the past, but really, we've already got tens of thousands. There are many more that we're yet to see. So,
[22:48]it's it's really about how the uh the narrative and and the charges and the understanding of what went on uh exposes itself or or is told in in the years to
[22:59]come. The other thing I think is interesting that we should potentially watch, I remember interviewing Roer about this a month or so ago and you know he was quite clear that they want
[23:08]to see Andrew um appear before Congress. So there there is pressure here both on the the special relationship but also on on the palace and and the royal family. >> Freddy, appreciate you joining us.
[23:19]That's Freddy Haywood, US correspondent for the New Statesman. Thank you very much indeed. Live shot here of uh the White House uh
[23:30]just uh coming up to half one in the afternoon. Cloudy day, cloudy December day there in Washington DC. And uh in the US earlier on I spoke to a former
[23:41]defense lawyer for Epstein accusers Joshua Schiffer. >> I'm not going to say I'm terribly surprised. We know that there are more
[23:50]than 95,000 images. Uh there's almost an unlimited number of images that could come out and we knew that there were going to be releases. Uh so that was going to be followed by of course
[24:02]outrageous defenses uh from the president and his supporters as well as allegations that this is just the beginning from the American left uh led
[24:11]by the Democrats. Uh we all know that Jeffrey Epstein had a social atom filled with some of the most important American and international business people. He
[24:23]paddled around with the hoy poi of uh uh the upper crust, you could say, and generated millions of dollars in consulting fees to build this amazing lifestyle. And as the years have
[24:35]progressed, we've now figured out that he used this trafficking uh these young women to attract so many of those people to his private life. But does that include all of these people? What uh
[24:46]allegations can be made that stick against these many famous people? Or is this simply salacious mudslinging and trying to control a narrative that is
[24:57]very powerful as it has landed firmly in the midst of American politics uh causing a giant rift in fact uh from the president and one of his former supporters, Congresswoman Marjorie
[25:08]Taylor Green. And this is a major issue here in the United States. Look, here we've had people uh come into uh problems because their relationship
[25:18]with Jeffrey Epstein went on longer than previously thought. Um Peter Mandlesson, of course, Andrew Mountbatton Windsor and uh and his ex-wife as well, Sarah
[25:28]Ferguson. Um this is not the Epstein files. These are photos showing just how widely connected he was. But as I was discussing with our correspondent uh
[25:40]David Blevins Joshua, Donald Trump said he would release the Epstein files and he still hasn't. >> It's a big question going on and uh
[25:50]President Trump is receiving substantial push back from his own supporters uh for betraying them on that very promise. Uh he had been so forthcoming after
[26:01]fighting the release for so long and there's definitely a sense of mixed reaction. Um, people want to know what's in the middle of this. If Donald Trump is in fact innocent of all of these
[26:12]allegations and insinuations, then he shouldn't have any problem freely opening up these files. >> So, that's let me come back on that. That is the question. If he is, he would
[26:23]have released them by now, wouldn't he? >> And that's exactly the conclusion I think most Americans and world watchers have have made. If you weren't hiding anything, why are you fighting so hard?
[26:33]Why are you creating so many barriers to the open release? It's kind of a red herring to say, "Oh, there are victims. These files are old. These victims are now adults. They could be cleared and
[26:45]these materials uh deserve to be released uh if Donald Trump ever wants this to go away." >> Well, and it should be pointed out, for example, that in her postumously
[26:55]published book, Virginia Grey said that Donald Trump behaved properly whenever she had met with him. So there were no accusations there leveled at him in in a
[27:05]way that they were leveled at others. You said most Americans. Is this the case? Because as you rightly point out, Marjgery Taylor Green has spectacularly
[27:14]fallen out with Donald Trump over this. It may well be the case and we've seen this latest statement uh accusing the Democrats of of trying to make real
[27:24]mischief here. But is it the case that some of Trump's own supporters, some of the MAGA base are also frustrated at this, are also perhaps changing their minds about him because of this
[27:35]situation. >> I think that's definitely the case and his obstructionism on the Epstein issue has decreased his support. President Trump has fallen dramatically in the
[27:45]polls and I personally believe a lot of that is due to his handling of the Epstein allegations. very correct that Mu Frey explicitly mentioned that President Trump uh acted uh
[27:57]appropriately or she was not exposed to inappropriate actions and the specific allegations of actions taken by the president with Jeffrey Epstein. There's not very many of them. There's a lot of
[28:08]insinuation that he was there and some wink and some not, but no one has [clears throat] really come out and made direct allegations about specific behavior from President Trump uh with
[28:18]Jeffrey Epstein contemporaneous with this other trafficking. So why the the hiding? And remember many of Donald Trump's uh cabinet members, some of his
[28:27]appointees, they basically created their careers talking about the conspiracy theory of the Epstein files. And it was very easy to paint a story here in the United States that the government was
[28:39]hiding things. But now that Donald Trump's the head of the government, there shouldn't be any more hiding, right? That's a tough question around here. >> Yes, of course. Look, we should remind
[28:50]people that Jeffrey Epstein died in prison, committed suicide. But of course, as with any of this stuff, people continue to ask questions about all of it.
[29:01]>> Yeah. And and the the real problem is that more information that's valid uh that is very important for the full analysis keeps coming out. It seems like
[29:12]it doesn't go more than a few days before there's a new release of information. We've got the grand jury transcripts that are coming out. There will be additional files slowly dripping
[29:22]as this story continues to evolve. And it's not going away until there is really a reset button pressed on the narrative and a clear accounting of what
[29:33]happened when and with who. That was Joshua Schiffer speaking to me a bit earlier on. Coming up after the break, we'll be discussing this more uh at length. The release of these [music]
[29:45]photos, 19 photos released by Democrats on the oversight committee out of 95,000 in their possession >> [music] >> uh from the Epstein estate. I'll be speaking to a former federal prosecutor
[29:55]about that next are you?
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[33:26]moment. But what happens now? Our breaking news this afternoon here on Sky News. In the last hour, the Democrats have released more pictures
[33:37]from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. The 19 photographs they've released show the likes of Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Bill Clinton, amongst others uh with Jeffrey Epste, though they do not show
[33:48]any illegal activity. The latest drop has been made by Democrats who sit on the House Oversight Committee and attained them from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. Joining me to discuss this
[33:59]further from Washington DC is Paul Peltier, a former federal prosecutor. Good afternoon to you. What do you think about this release by the Democrats on the oversight committee?
[34:09]>> Well, good afternoon, uh, Matt. It's nice to be on with you. So, from a prosecutor perspective, it puts a lot of things into context, these photos, and I think that as these drops continue,
[34:21]it'll continue to put things into context. From a an investigatory standpoint, it makes me wonder um how much of it is out there that prosecutors
[34:30]never had that they that would allow them to talk to people to find out if there were more victims and to find out how these victims were paid. So, it it does create a lot of issues, but in
[34:41]terms of um just context, it puts into context Trump's relationship in in better focus, Trump's relationship with with Mr. Epste and with Glay Maxwell.
[34:53]And it also shows sort of how when we have that that birthday letter now, we understand the context of that birthday letter that Trump sent and his
[35:03]relationship at parties and with women and things like that. We still don't know the age of these women that are in these photos, but it it it allows prosecutors to a and Congress to ask more questions.
[35:15]>> Yes, it does. We know they've wanted to ask questions of several people for years. not least Mr. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. They've been saying that for a
[35:25]while and he doesn't want to do that with them. So whatever this shows, they can ask, but it doesn't mean they necessarily get, does it? >> Well, I I I think that's right. But but
[35:36]there there's still a lot of of doors to open by either Congress or prosecutors should they want to go down there. One of them might be, for instance, that we can talk to all of these people in these
[35:48]these men in these videos. Now, there's nothing wrong with with men meeting with Epstein. Epstein sort of had a a business life and a personal life. If they're meeting him and for a business
[35:59]context, there's nothing wrong with that. But we we do want to know um what those people knew and understood about his personal life. And it just doesn't seem that anyone has asked those
[36:10]questions as of now. And there's plenty of people that are within the reach of Congress, within subpoena power of Congress to to ask those questions now. >> But Paul,
[36:22]does this really show us anything we didn't know? Of course, the Democrats would like there to be a smoking gun here. And and this is really the tip of
[36:31]the iceberg. 19 images out of 95,000. they may well go on to uh release, but we already knew that Donald Trump had a
[36:41]relationship with uh Jeffrey Epste and we already knew he knew plenty of the world's rich and powerful people and moved in those circles and there's nothing incriminating uh it seems in
[36:52]these images that that lead us to change our view of what we already thought. >> Well, well, that's largely true. But when you use the word incriminating, you're correct that there's nothing from
[37:03]the pictures that's incriminating, but the questions that have never been asked. And what I think that these pictures and and new pictures will show is that some people had relationships
[37:14]with Epstein, which exposed them to ex to Epstein's criminal activity. And and while the pictures themselves don't show
[37:25]incriminatory behavior of these people, what it allows you to do is put people within the context of parties like the picture
[37:34]that's showing right now and understand did you know or did you participate with underage women? So it gives prosecutors
[37:44]andor congressional investigators more evidence from which to base questions upon. So, yes, the the the pictures themselves tell us what we sort of
[37:54]already knew, but the depth of what they're going to expose and the in the uh what it does is it allows prosecutors to dig in and ask more questions about these relationships.
[38:06]>> Paul, as a former federal prosecutor, you'll be more of an expert on federal law than I ever could be. just explain to us why out of this huge number they have, they've only released so far a
[38:18]minuscule number, 19 out of 95,000. What will they have to do if they want to to release more of these? >> Well, first of all, I think this release
[38:28]is from Epstein's estate. >> So that we have two different batches here. We have Epstein's estate and the and the governments that are excuse me, the documents that are in possession of
[38:37]the government. Epstein's estate, I believe, will continue to release them at an appropriate rate. I'm not so sure what the delay is, but the government,
[38:47]we know, has been has been sort of stalling. And I think what Congress may have to do um to get the government to release more documents, and when I say the government, I'm talking about the
[38:57]DOJ, is to either get the president to authorize it or to compel it with subpoenas.
[39:04]>> Okay. So, and is that likely? Uh well um it's likely that they'll move to compel release of the documents. I don't know
[39:14]how likely it is that the DOJ will release the documents. They've been very reluctant to which is extremely unusual in these types of cases. The DOJ usually
[39:24]is an open book when it comes to uh cooperating with Congress. It doesn't seem like they've been so far here and all the evidence shows that uh President Trump has been the impetus behind the
[39:35]stall. Yeah, we've been talking already this afternoon about this deadline of the 19th of December for the release as Donald Trump said he would. And Pam
[39:45]Bondi says she's in possession of the Epstein files. You kindly differentiated what we're seeing today from those. Those are the those are the files of the
[39:56]investigative authorities effectively. Do you think now as the Democrats would like to see, we're more or less likely of seeing those files released?
[40:07]Oh. Oh, I I think it's I think it's more likely that we'll see those files released because every file puts more pressure on them to release them because at the end of the day, this is really about the victims and and in order to to
[40:19]to vindicate the victims. It's it's vitally important to find out who was really involved and who assisted and
[40:27]facilitated Epstein in the um in the abuse of these women. And I think that that's what Congress's real intent is. And I think obviously there is some
[40:37]fallout on the president and and that's certainly something that they that the Republicans at least don't want to face. >> Yeah, Paul, as as I said to my previous
[40:47]guest, we're coming up to a year anniversary of Donald Trump's second inauguration. Um, and no sign of this. Look, he's got a longer term ahead, but
[40:59]this certainly seems to be damaging some of his support with people who were big supporters of him coming in for a second term. The MAGA base I'm talking about.
[41:10]>> Yeah. Well, there's a couple of things, right? The first thing is is the drip drip drip of documents actually hurts him. And so it's it's always been been
[41:22]strange to me that they just don't release everything right away. I mean, obviously they're gonna have to uh take out some of the information that that's not allowable for people to see about
[41:32]the minors, but the drip drip drip hurts him number one, and number two, what it does is is exposes the lies he's told in the past about his relationship with
[41:42]Epstein. So the to to me that's always going to be there and I think it will all it's not a good story. No m it can't be turned into a good story so it's always going to hurt. Yeah. Just just
[41:54]just let me come come back to something. The the lies you say he he's told he's been quite categorical in he fell out with Jeffrey Epstein sort of in the mid
[42:05]2000s. I believe we've seen subsequently the release of the birthday book. We've heard about some of these pictures and a lot of it he he denies. So, he's going
[42:16]to keep denying it, isn't he? >> Well, you you can, but but investigators can congressional investigators and uh normally DOJ investigators can sort of figure out where the lies were. So, we
[42:28]all know that he denied that that letter that he wrote to Epstein about the secrets that they had together, but it's very clear that that's his letter. It was sent. It was in a book. It's bound
[42:38]in a book. it was his and it was in the I think it was 2005. So that's clearly been presented as a lie. And the reason why you would expect he would lie about that because it shows the depth of his
[42:48]relationship as it relates to his fallout. Remember he links it to Epstein stealing a 14-year-old girl from his pro shop at Mara Lago. That's not a good
[42:59]story because at the end of the day, we know that Epstein stole her to put her into um his uh um uh um sort of sexual slave and those are my words, sexual
[43:11]slave group. And so um because she said that so the reason why he stole her is had to be have had to have been known
[43:21]from Trump because Trump has admitted that he didn't like it and he didn't want him to steal this woman and that's the reason why and Trump remember on
[43:30]Howard Stern said one of his problems with Jeffrey Epstein was that he liked girls on the younger side. So it it is vitally important to get to the bottom
[43:41]of this and none of this story will put Trump's activities with Epstein in a good light. >> Paul Peltier, former federal prosecutor. Thank you very much indeed for joining
[43:52]us here on Sky News this afternoon. >> Thank you, Matt. >> In the last few moments, we've heard from the Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, who is a member of the House
[44:01]Oversight Committee. Trump right now needs to release the files to the American public so that the truth can come out and we can actually get some sense of justice for the survivors. Sir,
[44:12]>> what's your plan going to be if the Trump administration doesn't release? >> What do you think the significance of these photos is? Because some of these are folks we already knew had associations with Jeffrey Epste. >> I think anything that we release is significant. I think clearly I think
[44:24]people should be able to make judgments on their own as to what they see in these photos. For us, this is about transparency. if we receive information or pictures or or anything else videos that we put out last week and I think
[44:35]it's important to note that it's been it's been oversight Democrats that have fought every single time to release all this information and we there is a white house cover up happening right now in not releasing these files that needs to
[44:46]end. There are women who were now who were raped when they were children who just want justice. Let's release the files immediately. >> What do you think is going to happen on the 19th? You were supposed to put out
[44:57]all these files on the 19th. Do you think we're going to get everything they need? Do you think it's going to be satisfactory? >> I I think that the Justice Department needs to put out the files today. What happens on the 19th, I'm hopefully they put everything out. It shouldn't be
[45:08]heavily redacted. The file shouldn't be tampered with. We should get the full production there. There that many many there are hundreds and hundreds of FBI agents that have worked on putting these files together. They know what's in
[45:20]them. The president himself is aware of what's in these files. They tried to stop the release. We forced the action in Congress. It's time to release it. We have only reviewed a about a fourth of
[45:30]the 95,000 pictures that we received late last night. We will continue to put more of these photos out in the in the days and weeks ahead. >> You touched on this, Congressman, but put a but to put a finer point on it, do you have faith the Department of Justice
[45:41]will comply with this law and release those files in just a week from now? Uh, I I I think that we have to look back at what's happened up to this point. When you spend your entire campaign saying you're going to release the files and
[45:52]then you do everything you can to stop their release. When the attorney general says they're on her desk and she refuses to release them. When you try to set up sham investigations to stop the release. When you're bringing members of Congress into the situation room at the White
[46:04]House so they don't vote to get the release done in the Congress. That all points to the same thing, which is the White House consistently have tried to cover up the Epstein files in the release. >> And I know the 19th is what the request was the time frame here. But do you
[46:16]think this gets buried because it comes out Friday night on the 19th, the week before Christmas, and people don't pay as much attention? >> Look, I think the release needs to happen regardless of when it is. I think the American public are smart enough to understand that at this moment what we
[46:26]want is the release of all the files. >> That was uh Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, member of the House Oversight Committee speaking. is the Democrats on that oversight committee
[46:36]that have released these photos they've obtained from the Jeffrey Epstein estate this afternoon. We're going to bring in our data and forensics correspondent Tom Cheshire who can tell us more about this
[46:47]uh Tom because we've seen a a smidgen of the huge number of pictures they've got hold of. >> Yeah, I mean this is how they released them. Uh post on X, formerly Twitter from the oversight dems with these
[46:58]pictures and they say this was 95,000 new photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. Now that's important. and it's from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. As we've been saying, this is not the Department of Justice release that we are waiting
[47:10]for with that deadline of Friday the 19th of December. It said 95,000 photos and you're hearing actually they'd only gone through about a quarter of them.
[47:19]So, what some 20,000 photos. Uh those 19 photos focus on Donald Trump. And uh Republicans have accused the Democrats on the committee of focusing on Donald
[47:29]Trump, of cherrypicking pictures like these, showing uh Donald Trump with women whose faces are redacted. We don't know why their faces are adapted. Or there's another one here. This is a
[47:40]photo that was in the public domain already of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. And another one of him on a plane. Some of the other photos released
[47:49]again maybe pointing sort of innuendo more than anything. And it's worth pointing out all the people in these uh photos. There's no illegal activity happening in these photos and they're
[47:59]not um accused of wrongdoing. But this is one of the other ones that was included. This was from the 2016 campaign. Donald Trump branded condom available for $450. That's been included
[48:11]in that. That is um not nec I mean it's obviously not proof of anything, but it has been included by the Democrats. Again, on that sort of innuendo side, this is um some of the pictures showed
[48:22]sex toys and other things like this. This is um for a gag that was included in that. So, I I think there is, you know, when the Republicans say this is focusing on Donald Trump, it's uh
[48:33]focusing on that. Maybe there is a point there. These 19 images really are orientated around that. But it also gives a picture of Jeffrey Epstein, you know, who sat in the middle of this
[48:44]network of influence, of power, of favor. Um, here he is speaking with Steve Bannon, the uh right-wing sort of strategist, thinker, influencer, uh, very close to Donald Trump, too. Of
[48:56]course, this is in the office. Again, Steve Bannon is not accused of any wrongdoing. The other photos here, again, we've got, you know, picture of Woody Allen apparently on set. Uh, the Clintons's here, so I'll just zoom out.
[49:08]Bill Clinton there with Jeffrey Epstein. Uh Richard Branson included too. Again, these aren't telling us anything we didn't necessarily know. These relationships are well attested. We've
[49:18]got as he was back then, Prince Andrew now, Andrew Mountbatton Windsor, uh Bill Gates. Uh we've known about their friendships at least with Jeffrey Epstein for a long time. Again, there is
[49:29]no accusation of wrongdoing. So we do get that picture but you know in these uh 95,000 images we haven't had sort of new revelations really anything like
[49:40]that. That is what we are waiting for on December the 19th with the department of justice uh releasing their files. There are caveats to that of course. Um the Department of Justice is going to have
[49:51]to redact a lot of stuff anyway because there are underage victims named in that whose identities need to be protected and that means checking all those documents because there are all sorts of different courts involved, all sorts of
[50:02]different investigations. Uh it has to be checked really thoroughly to make sure those victims aren't identified and that they are protected. But there's also carves out. So um if there is an ongoing investigation which uh has been
[50:14]announced that means that uh some stuff can be held back if it's related to that investigation. We don't know the details of that investigation who what it might be touching. Um and then there's also
[50:25]the carve out of national security. So um if there's something that's detrimental to national security that can be taken out too and that could be drawn pretty widely. Um so 19th of
[50:36]December is that deadline. Uh there's going to be a huge huge amount of documents. We're also still waiting on banking statements as well which will be a really interesting avenue to explore.
[50:46]This though is a very limited release and what it is doing is certainly keeping up the pressure on Donald Trump making sure this is another story going into the weekend ahead of that release.
[50:57]>> Yes, Tom. Any anyone who's involved in campaigns will tell you they need a regular drum beat. That's exactly what the drip drip of this release by the Democrats is. Thank you very much indeed. Earlier I spoke to our US
[51:09]correspondent David Blevens who's in Washington DC when the news of this release broke. >> The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee that is the committee on
[51:19]Capitol Hill investigating crimes carried out by Jeffrey Epstein have received they say 95,000
[51:28]images from the Epstein estate. uh they have now released 19 of those images and they are striking. Three of them are images of the president of the United
[51:40]States Donald Trump. Also there is a picture of the former Prince Andrew now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. There is as you say a picture of Trump's
[51:50]former advisor as Steve Bannon and others among those images released. But I think it's really important to stress at this stage that just appearing in a
[52:01]picture uh that has been released uh by the Epstein estate is no indication of wrongdoing. NBC, our colleagues in the United States has reached out to each of
[52:11]these people for comment. None of them has been accused of wrongdoing and all of them have repeatedly denied any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.
[52:21]But I think there will be much focus on the three photographs featuring Donald Trump. He has of course uh in the past indicated that he was friends with
[52:31]Jeffrey Epstein in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Each of them owned a mansion in Florida and they were filmed together for example at a party because
[52:42]the American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein really partied with the rich and famous a lot. Uh you're looking at a picture of him with Woody Allen there because he cultivated
[52:54]relationships with influential people uh politicians, academics, and celebrities. And so there was much shock in 2008 when
[53:03]he was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution and served a controversially lenient jail sentence. And then in due course we know that he was arrested on federal sex trafficking
[53:15]charges accused of exploiting and trafficking numerous underage girls. Uh so these pictures will be scrutinized heavily. We've now had a statement I
[53:25]should say from Representative Robert Garcia who's the ranking member on the committee uh from the Democrats and this is what he's had to say. This latest
[53:36]production contains over 95,000 photos, including images of the wealthy and powerful men who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein. Images also include thousands
[53:47]of photographs of women and Epstein properties. Oversight Democrats are reviewing the full set of photos and will continue uh to release photos to the public in the days and weeks ahead.
[53:58]Committee Democrats are committed to protecting the identities of the survivors. 19 photos can be accessed here. And he goes on to say, "It is time
[54:09]to end this White House cover up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends." These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and
[54:21]his relationship with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must
[54:31]release all the files. Now I think it is worth again reminding people that these are not the Epstein files so to speak that we've been talking so much about in
[54:42]recent months uh following a decision by the House of Representatives and subsequently the Senate and then the signature of the president himself.
[54:51]Those files some 300 gigabytes of them will be released in due course. Uh but right now we are receiving just some documents from the Democrats on the
[55:03]House Oversight Committee. Documents which we would expect to feature in the overall files, but they are striking. 19 photographs, three of them uh photographs of the current president of
[55:13]the United States. That's David Blevens, our correspondent in Washington DC. Uh just uh bringing you up to date on the breaking story in
[55:23]the last hour or so. The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill have released more images that they have got hold of from Jeffrey Epstein's
[55:34]estate. 19 images have been released. Some of them redacted as you can see here, but on the left of the image is someone whose image I'm sure you will uh know, President Donald Trump uh some
[55:45]point in uh in the past. But it does give us more of a glimpse into the life and the connections and the places that Jeffrey Epstein uh frequented. There he
[55:57]is stood next to Donald Trump. The woman on the left said to be a Belgian model. There are other people in the images as well who are household names. Some we
[56:06]don't know who they are. Images uh covered like this. Their identities hidden. Bill Clinton uh a former president there alongside Gile Maxwell is currently incarcerated in the US. and
[56:18]Jeffrey Epstein on the right. And a latest poll shows that just 23% of Americans approve of the way Donald Trump is handling the Epstein scandal. >> What's the best thing about being a Sky
[56:29]News journalist? >> Who's funnier? >> Being a Sky News journalist.
[56:41]>> A special edition of the world with me. Yalda Hakeim. >> Pakistan has a right to respond. >> You're like what? Historic day here today. Congratulations. This is
[56:52]a huge moment. But what happens now?