Bill Clinton seen shirtless in bathtub and with Michael Jackson in new photos released as part of Epstein files by the DOJ

US releases thousands of Epstein investigation files under transparency law deadline - Source: Getty
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in one of the images released by the US Department of State. The US Justice Department released thousands of records Friday related to the sex trafficking investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. (Photo by The US Justice Department / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)

Epstein Files, the files detailing the work of the convicted s*x offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, have been released in part by the DOJ of the US. Among thousands of photos and documents, a lot of them heavily redacted, is a picture of former president Bill Clinton shirtless in a bathtub.

Another photo from the files shows Clinton with Michael Jackson, alongside Diana Rose, with another woman sitting nearby whose face has been redacted. Another photo shows Clinton sitting with a woman on his lap, again with the woman's photo redacted. There are also photos of Clinton with Mick Jagger, Ghisain Maxwell, and the late s*x offender at a party in New York.

The release of the files comes after the passage of the Epstein Transparency Act, which requires all files pertaining to the Epstein case to be made publicly viewable within 30 days of its passage. The act was passed on November 19, 2025.

Deputy chief of staff for Clinton, Angel Ureña, posted a statement following the partial release of files with photos of Clinton. The statement, posted to X, reads:

"The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next or from what they'll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will. Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton."

The statement continues:

"There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that."

Epstein Files partial release drew criticism

The Epstein Transparency Act's deadline passed on December 19, 2025. The partial release of the files violated US law. House oversight members Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin have criticised the delay, stating that they are now looking at all legal options following the violation of US Federal law by the DOJ in its failure to release all the files and comply with the above-mentioned act:

"We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law. The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DoJ."

The failure to release the files also faced criticism from Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who pushed for the release of all the files, as well as Thomas Massie, another Republican representative, who spearheaded the push for the release of the files.

The failure to release the files also faced criticism from a survivor of Epstein and his network of trafficking and sex crimes. Liz Stein stated to BBC4 Radio:

"What we worry about is a slow rollout of incomplete information without any context as to what we’re looking at. It’s really important that we see everything that they have released. We are certainly hoping that it’s a path to justice."

She continued:

"The release of all of these documents comes at a great cost to us, they’re incredibly triggering and re-traumatising but we feel incredibly strong that they need to be released because we need to know what happened in this case."

The late criminal committed suicide after being convicted of s*x trafficking of minors. The now late trafficker was a banker who cultivated a circle among the elites of the world, including Bill Clinton. Investigative journalism, such as the report by Mother Jones in 2019, has over the years revealed a vast conspiracy that protected Epstein and his co-culprits from being prosecuted.

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Edited by Zainab Shaikh