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A US congressional panel has released what appears to be Jeffrey Epstein’s contact book and another page of his “birthday book”, reigniting a political firestorm over the late paedophile’s ties to Donald Trump.

The documents from Epstein’s estate were among a new batch of disclosures from the House oversight committee on Tuesday, just as the US president arrived in London, where UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last week sacked Lord Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington over his friendship with Epstein.

The documents offered limited new insights about Epstein’s ties to Trump, Mandelson or other figures, including former president Bill Clinton, who have faced growing criticism over their links to the disgraced financier.

But lawmakers on the Republican-controlled House committee signalled they would continue to press for more disclosures in the weeks to come amid growing calls for more government transparency.

FBI chief Kash Patel told a Senate committee on Tuesday there was no “credible information” that Epstein trafficked people to anyone other than himself, as he sought to quell complaints about the Trump administration’s handling of the affair. “If there were, I would bring the case yesterday,” he said.

The documents released by the committee included the transcript of closed-door testimony from William Barr, US attorney-general in Trump’s first administration, in which he said he was not aware of any incriminating evidence linking the president and Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.

In one exchange with a Democratic Congress member, Barr said he was “never told by [federal prosecutors in] the Southern District [of New York] that they had evidence to support any claim like that”.

But a spokesperson for Democrats on the committee said the transcript showed Barr “could not exonerate President Trump of wrongdoing”.

The documents also included a letter from the committee’s chair, Kentucky Republican James Comer, asking Epstein’s estate for unredacted versions of cash ledgers, message logs, calendars and flight logs.

The latest disclosures come one week after another tranche of documents released by the committee ignited political controversy on both sides of the Atlantic.

Starmer has come under fire in Britain for appointing Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the US, despite the Labour peer’s friendship with Epstein.

The White House has faced criticism for not releasing more information about federal investigations into the paedophile despite the president’s vow in last year’s election campaign to release the so-called Epstein files.

Parts of his Maga base reacted angrily after the justice department and FBI in July issued a memo concluding there was no “client list” or “credible evidence” that Epstein “blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions”.

The committee last week released a 238-page book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday by his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, including a letter allegedly sent by Trump to the financier, as well as contributions from figures including Clinton and Mandelson.

Trump said he ended his friendship with Epstein decades ago and has denied the birthday letter came from him. He has also sued The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the letter’s existence.

The additional page from the book released on Tuesday addressed Epstein as “Degenerate One” and was signed by someone who identified themselves as “Degenerate II (aka Coco Brown)”.

The committee also published what appeared to be a contact book belonging to Epstein, although there was no suggestion this was a list of people involved in his crimes.

The release of the latest tranche of documents suggests lawmakers will continue their efforts to publish information about the investigations into Epstein’s activities.

In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Comer said members of Congress still intended to interview Maxwell and publish the transcript of any deposition, as well as interview other justice department officials.

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The committee has also sought testimony from former FBI director James Comey, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Alex Acosta, Trump’s former labour secretary who negotiated a controversial 2008 federal plea deal with Epstein as a US attorney.

Alberto Gonzales, who was attorney-general under former president George W Bush, wrote in a letter published by the committee that he had “no present memory of decisions or conversations relating to the investigation and prosecution” of Epstein during his time running the justice department.

Jeff Sessions, who preceded Barr as Trump’s attorney-general from 2017 to 2018, wrote in another letter that he was willing to “co-operate fully” with the committee’s investigation, but said he did not “possess knowledge and information relevant” to the probe.