Metadata from the Epstein prison video released this week was “likely modified”.
Over the weekend a report was leaked showing the the DOJ had concluded that the Epstein case was coming to an end without any indictments for child sex trafficking. This was a shocker.
Axios reported:
President Trump‘s Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a “client list” or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios.
- The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and “enhanced” versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.
- The video supports a medical examiner’s finding that Epstein died by suicide, the two-page memo claims.
Why it matters: The findings represent the first time Trump’s administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein’s activities and his death — theories that had been pushed by the FBI’s top two officials before Trump appointed them to the bureau.
- As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI’s director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died.
- Patel and Bongino have since said Epstein killed himself. But it has become an article of faith online, especially on the right, that Epstein’s crimes also implicated government officials, celebrities and business leaders — and that someone killed him to conceal them.
- The memo says no one else involved in the Epstein case will be charged. (Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.)
Zoom in: According to the memo, investigators closely examined footage of Epstein’s Manhattan prison cell between around 10:40pm on Aug. 9, 2019, when Epstein was locked in his cell, and around 6:30am the next day, when he was found unresponsive.
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The footage, which was reviewed by Axios but couldn’t be verified independently, showed no one entering the area, the administration said.
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“The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability,” the memo says.
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Investigators found “no incriminating ‘client list’ ” of Epstein’s, “no credible evidence … that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals,” and no “evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” the memo adds.
This was a terrible look for President Trump’s DOJ and FBI.
The DOJ Looks Horrible After Epstein Leak – It Couldn’t Be Worse
Then TGP reported that the video released along with the report had a minute missing from the video. This was not good.
Next it was reported that Maurene Comey had reported years ago that the video of Epstein’s cell had been lost and then the next day it was found. Ms. Comey is the daughter of fired FBI Director Jim Comey. She still works for the DOJ in NYC.
Now it’s being reported that the video that was provided earlier this week along with the DOJ’s report not only had a minute missing but it “was likely modified”. Wired reported today on X;
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 a Adobe Premiere Pro.
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 a Adobe Premiere Pro. https://t.co/kT890ZoJQW
— WIRED (@WIRED) July 11, 2025