The FBI recently decided that there was and is no “Jeffrey Epstein client list” and the long-running investigation into Epstein’s trafficking operation should be closed. Donald Trump is obviously all over the Epstein files and everyone knew that Trump is a serial sexual predator and adjudicated rapist, but millions of Americans voted for him. So here we are – the FBI clearly ending an investigation into a notorious monster because that monster had equally evil friends, one of whom is now president. As part of the closing of the Epstein file, the Department of Justice decided to be super-slick – they released eleven hours of what they claimed was “raw surveillance footage” from just outside Epstein’s New York prison cell in 2019. The hours of footage were supposedly from just before Epstein’s body was found in the cell. Well, it turns out that the footage is not in any way “raw.” It has been manipulated and modified in really obvious ways. From Wired:
The US Department of Justice this week released nearly 11 hours of what it described as “full raw” surveillance footage from a camera positioned near Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell the night before he was found dead. The release was intended to address conspiracy theories about Epstein’s apparent suicide in federal custody. But instead of putting those suspicions to rest, it may fuel them further.
Metadata embedded in the video and analyzed by WIRED and independent video forensics experts shows that rather than being a direct export from the prison’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, likely using the professional editing tool Adobe Premiere Pro. The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as “raw” footage.
Experts caution that it’s unclear what exactly was changed, and that the metadata does not prove deceptive manipulation. The video may have simply been processed for public release using available software, with no modifications beyond stitching together two clips. But the absence of a clear explanation for the processing of the file using professional editing software complicates the Justice Department’s narrative. In a case already clouded by suspicion, the ambiguity surrounding how the file was processed is likely to provide fresh fodder for conspiracy theories.
For months leading up to the joint memo the DOJ and FBI published Monday, attorney general Pam Bondi had promised the release of records related to Epstein, raising expectations that new, potentially incriminating details might surface about the disgraced financier’s death and his ties to powerful individuals. However, rather than revealing new information, the memo largely confirmed conclusions reached years earlier: that Epstein was found in a Manhattan prison cell on August 10, 2019, and died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
To support its conclusion, the FBI reviewed surveillance footage overlooking the common area of the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), where Epstein was held. The FBI enhanced the footage by adjusting contrast, color, and sharpness, and released both the enhanced and what it described as the “raw” version. Both versions of the video appear to have been processed using Premiere and include much of the same metadata.
Wired goes on to explain the methodology of their investigation into the “raw footage,” which saw them go to two video forensic experts for analysis. Both experts agreed that the footage was highly questionable and the metadata showed that it had been saved, processed and edited in Premiere. They also found that the video is “a composite assembled from at least two separate MP4 files.” Their experts pointed out that this video would be easily thrown out of court – it raises significant questions about chain of custody, not to mention authenticity. One of the dumbest parts of all of this? The “raw footage” video changes aspect ratios mid-video.
All of this reminded me of the many stories we got in the weeks and months immediately following Epstein’s mysterious in-custody death. Even back then, in the summer of 2019, we knew that there were many suspicious irregularities around Epstein’s death, and the autopsy revealed MULTIPLE breaks in his neck bones.
Apparently, MAGAland is handling all of this Epstein stuff poorly, and there’s “fallout” within the Trump administration. There was some kind of tense meeting between AG Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. I don’t have any desire to delve into the politics of it – it’s clear that Trump appointed people who are actively covering up all of his crimes at every level. The rest is just bread and circuses for the MAGA morons.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.
Epstein just had the ego and vibe of a man who believed he would get out of anything, as he had many times in the past. He prob thought he could still get out if it, despite being in jail, so why would he kill himself with that kind of belief.
And, we have a winner. Congratulations, Jais, you win the Broyhill Dinette Set!
Epstein had so much dirt on people much more powerful than he was. If the FBI had an honest interest in justice here, Epstein probably could have negotiated a cushy deal. In an era of bipartisan chasm, there’s one issue that unites us all. Epstein did not suicide.
I have to say I am surprised to see that the MAGA base seems to have been completely in the dark about their daddy being best friends with Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, I know they live in their own little Faux News bubble but they seem to feel genuinely betrayed by this knowledge now. Oh well, FAFO, welcome back to the real world.
The MAGAts have been in the dark because they’ve WANTED to be so. It HAS to be just pure willful ignorance. For quite a while, one of the photos that Faux News would frequently use when reporting on Melania was actually a cropped version of that infamous photo of the Trumps with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell!
I was pretty surprised by that too. Also surprised that they care. I didn’t think there was anything their orange messiah could do that would upset them.
Nah, his vampire adviser Stephen Miller will double down and triple down on harming immigrants and then they’ll forget about this and feel placated.
They care because they are also influenced by (if not actively in) the Q-Anon cult which holds that there is an international cabal of the uber-rich – but not THEIR uber-rich – who molest and eat children. Wish I was kidding.
It’s never the crime, but always the coverup. We “knew” he didn’t do himself, but now with the release of this BS, we “Know” it. That said, we’re in deep doodoo if the top cops in the nation are involved in covering up crimes…
Deputy Director Dan Bongino is threatening to quit over these files not being released. That’s probably the most ethical thing coming out of the FBI these days considering their history of covering up crimes, abuses, and scandals of powerful white men. Those files have the White House and FBI scared. Any revelation of Trump being a despicable human being is not new — my question is what ties to foreign adversaries did Epstein hold? There were rumors about him being as asset to Israeli intelligence. He had connections to powerful people and possible access to foreign agents. Just my take. I think those files go beyond Trump’s depravity.
@mireille bongino isn’t saying he will resign for laudable ethical reasons it’s because he’s QAnon and pushed all the Epstein conspiracy theories on his podcast. The QAnon part of the base has been counting on #47 to deliver a secret Democrat pedophile ring with the release of a secret Epstein client list.
Thanks for the clarification. I retract my statement equating the FBI with anything remotely ethical.
Deeply ironic that MAGA is being hoisted on the petard of their own conspiracy theory. It would be poetic justice if the entire MAGA cult crumbled because of Jeffrey Epstein. Just last week, Trump bemoaned, “I killed him! Why won’t he stay dead?”
That is it right there @brassy rebel and one can hope maybe it is Epstein that damages #47s coalition of supporters but wow, really crazy to see all the other truly sadistic things being done to people, even things that are directly harmful to #47 supporters, and that hasn’t seemed compelling enough to create any type of fracture. But Epstein I guess is a major narrative and conspiracy with a whole unhinged podcast ecosystem around it so…fingers crossed?
So many MAGA were convinced that he was going to expose all of this. After all, he was saved by the hand of God. Surely that was to be part of his mission.
This just speaks to how dumb MAGA is. They are butt hurt because they want Bill Clinton and Hollywood liberals exposed yet there are dozens of photos of their poopy pants cult leader with Epstein and now this clearly doctored video that shows “Epstein totally offed himself, nothing to see here!” I don’t understand how they ignored that all this time.
To quote Heather Cox Richardson, “They are pickled in right wing propaganda.”
The rightwing media was pumping up their base with Epstein list, stories for years. Now they are in charge, they are telling their base that it doesn’t exist. They are dumb, not that dumb.
It’s not that they believe Trump will be in the Epstein files. They are still in the fantasy that Democrats and liberals will be exposed by any ‘true’ Epstein release. MAGA feels betrayed because they helped these people get to the top and now won’t get their ultimate revenge against the ‘evil’ liberals.
Maga doesn’t realize that rich folks stick together. I doubt we’ll ever see the client list. There are too many rich & powerful names on it.
Am I the only one who relievers that initially they said the cameras outside his cell were mysteriously not working when the incident happened? And then they release footage of literally nothing that can be authenticated.
The other thing is that Q stuff taught these people to pore over mundane footage and look for meaning/clues. Like, the shadow moved at the 17 seconds mark, 17 means ( I don’t know what), this is telling us xxxxx. It’s not critical thinking, exactly, but it does mean they’re now positioned to see an obvious cover up when it happens.
The top two guys at the fbi are huge in that community, and Bondi really stuck her foot in her mouth with saying it was on her desk. This, of all things, might be what does it. Ask the MAGAs you know what they think it means, and why would Trump not release it. Drive the wedge.
Yes, (among other things) – they initially said the cameras outside his cell were *mysteriously* not working.
So this confirms that trump was just as revoltingly unattractive when he was younger. Though I’ve not seen the auburn hair before.
I don’t care one singular iota how Epstein died. That feels like dangling car keys in front of my face. I want to know the dirt he had and on who.
I am pretty sure there is/was a list of clients of Epstein. There were pictures in publications of his guests/clients FOREVER since the 2000’s. Trump promised the list to his base to get reelected and now breaking his promises. This situation , along with the immoral ways of removing immigrants without DUE PROCESS will crush his presidency. Trump is 79 and cannot handle this stress heading his way. Why is Melania still in NY? His kids Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric are not officially part of the administration. He is alone at night typing on Truth Social. SO SAD! What a way to go down. BUt, Trump wanted the presidency to escape jail, but his life and this presidency will go down in flames. JD Vance will not have it any easier. I think Stephen MIller and Project 2025 practices/wishes are rejected by the American people. The united parties of Republicans, Democrats and Independents DID NOT VOTE for this. KARMA is knocking on the door. God bless America, my home, sweet home, PEACE.
oof. TIL Dan F*ckin’ Bongino is Deputy Director of the FBI … These people are such dangerous clowns. We’ll never get the full picture of Jeffrey Epstein, will we?
Ghislaine Maxwell was Israeli-adjacent insofar as her father was Robert Maxwell. A fact that somehow never acquires sufficient prominence in the coverage of his daughter. What Epstein did, however, was not “intelligence” as the Israelis would understand it. What he did, was blackmail. He was just a depraved con artist who was — likely — connected to the FBI in a previous form. His first conviction was *years* before the dam broke and his sentence was laughably light. At some point his money, access, & business connections rolled into one snowball that attained critical mass. Before causing an avalanche. But what he did really isn’t that exotic, compared to the run of the mill depravity amongst lobbyists, dispensing with budgets in the millions to secure billion-dollar contracts from the govt. I think he was protected — up to a point — because someone (FBI, likely as not) has to keep an eye on the damage the gravy train causes as people jump on and off, without slowing it down. They protect our various Congressional appropriations committee members and defence contractors from foreign blackmail. The Israelis would know this. Epstein was a cheap, sordid pimp, albeit one who was patronised by some very powerful people who did not want his work on their behalf to be exposed. When they couldn’t protect him anymore, they had him killed. Because as much as these people play wag the dog, hiding behind the FBI, etc., when they go too far, the people they’ve co-opted have at least to be *seen* to do their jobs. Hence the FBI is making a huge fuss now. It’s a bit late. But if they did nothing, it would give the game away. And it is a game to them.
I just want to give a shout out to Wired and suggest that you check out their page because since the beginning of this administration, and Doge’s shenanigans, it has done some really great reporting and investigative work Granted, it’s usually within their own Bailiwick but so much of what is going on now has to do with electronics, digital information, programming, data, etc., and access thereto, manipulation thereof and misinformation.
Wired needs to be protected at all cost!