Photographer stumbles on never-seen Epstein images he thought were destroyed: report

A photographer discovered never-before-seen photographs of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in his belongings as he was preparing to move to Europe, which he thought had been destroyed after a run-in with Epstein's bodyguard, according to a new report.

Christopher Anderson, the Vanity Fair photographer who took a recent series of eye-popping portraits of officials in President Donald Trump's administration, photographed Epstein in his New York townhome for a story that was eventually spiked. Epstein eventually wrangled the photos from Anderson, but they emerged on an old hard drive that had been tucked away for years, Vanity Fair reported.

They also reminded Anderson of a time when he was threatened over the photos.

“[Epstein] sent his bodyguard/driver, Merwin, a massive guy in a long black overcoat and black, leather gloves, to my studio to intimidate me (it worked)," Anderson wrote in his upcoming book, "Index," according to the report.

Anderson also recalled sensing something was up with Epstein during the photoshoot. Vanity Fair described the photos as "stark, emotionless, quiet, [and] haunting."

“When I was in there and I was photographing, I photographed pictures of this mantleplace, of his mantle and his fireplace, and I made the pictures of Woody Allen and Bill Clinton and whoever else, and I'm sure there were others there, including Trump—but at the time, no one cared about Donald Trump," Anderson wrote.

He also said that he had no idea that the photographs themselves, or the people in them, would become a global story.

“I went and photographed him the same way I would go in any situation like that, which is really trying to be a clear-eyed observer and see what I saw,” he said. “And I think, in the picture, I think I did see something.”