Forensic specialists have identified that almost three minutes of footage were removed from the supposedly ‘full raw’ video of Jeffrey Epstein’s prison suicide, which the FBI provided to dismiss conspiracy theories last week.
The surveillance videos were disclosed to bolster the Department of Justice’s assertion that Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, indeed took his own life in a New York City prison cell in August 2019.
However, an analysis published by WIRED shows that the file was in fact not raw, but stitched together using Adobe Premiere Pro from two clips.
One of the clips was originally four hours and 19 minutes long, but it had nearly two minutes and 53 seconds cut out.
The edit takes place at 11:58:58 pm, missing by milliseconds before there is an entire minute absent from the recording. The following segment picks up precisely at midnight.
Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed the gap on a ‘nightly system reset.’
Though the timing may suggest overlap, the metadata shows that the file was modified multiple times on May 23, 2025, over a span of more than three hours, contradicting the notion that this was ‘raw’ footage.
WIRED pressed the DOJ for comment on the edits, and a spokesperson replied in minutes, saying ‘Refer you to the FBI’. The FBI then declined to comment.
Forensic experts have discovered that nearly three minutes of footage were cut from the ‘full raw’ video of Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in prison that the FBI presented last week.
Epstein, seen here in 2005, died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019, from what feds ruled was suicide. In the six years since, several have asked how such an important, surveilled figure managed to take his life without being stopped
The Trump administration released the tape in order to squash theories that Epstein was murdered, but the discovery of missing footage has only re-ignited such conspiracies.
The Justice Department found that Epstein died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019, from what feds ruled was suicide.
In the six years since, several have asked how such an important, surveilled figure managed to take his life without being stopped.
Experts enlisted by WIRED determined the footage was assembled from at least two source clips, and that it was then saved multiple times and exported before being uploaded to the DOJ website.
Analysts disclaimed the publication it was unclear what exactly was manipulated, and that the edits may not have been meant to deceive.
Still, the revelation was a sizable one, considering skepticism that had already emerged following the video’s release Monday.
The doubt stemmed from the ‘raw’ released footage’s timestamp, which jumps ahead one minute at midnight on August 10.
The jump is present in the original clip as well an enhanced version released by the FBI.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi – who was appointed following the spectacular flameout that enveloped first-pick Matt Gaetz – tried to explain away the missing minute of footage on Tuesday alongside Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.
She billed it as part of a routine reset that takes place at the center every night, claiming: ‘[E]very night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing.’
Bondi also said the Justice Department was looking to publish additional footage to prove it was part of a regular reset undertaken at the prison and not an elaborate coverup.
Further fueling speculation Monday was feds’ insistence that the long-awaited ‘client list’ did not exist, after Bondi just months before bragged on Fox News that the list of alleged, potential accomplices was ‘sitting on [her] desk right now to review.’
That same month, in February, the White House released a compilation of Epstein documents that turned out to contain no new information.
Bondi has since claimed she was ‘misled’ about the ‘files” true contents.
The footage released Monday – along with the statement that attempted to put the case to rest – was the only offering from the federal government since.
The conclusion that it had been edited was reached by video forensics experts who poured through the footage’s metadata.
The term refers to data within data that gives glimpses about into important aspects like how it was created.
It is also used to summarize basic information about data that can make tracking and working with specific data easier.
Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley whose research focuses on digital forensics and misinformation, told Wired the footage would not be considered valid evidence in court.
Trump, meanwhile, had promised during campaign to declassify missing details about Epstein’s associates, as well as put to bed intrigue about what many conservatives believe may have been a clandestine homicide to keep him quiet.
Since Monday, MAGA diehards have expressed frustration with Trump’s camp’s handling of the classified documents, considering Epstein’s rich and powerful friends.
Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel were appointed amid promises to Trump voters that the truth about Epstein would come out, even if it meant upsetting the disgraced financier’s powerful former friends
The DOJ and FBI said no one else will be arrested and charged in connection to Epstein’s crimes. Ghislaine Maxwell (right) is already serving a 20-year prison sentence. Pictured, Trump, future wife Melania, Epstein, and Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago club in February 2000
He died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019, from what feds ruled was suicide. Pictured, the cell where his body was found
Trump, who once palled around with Epstein, on Tuesday expressed awe that the saga has continued to drag on.
‘Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?’ Trump asked a reporter who called out a question to Bondi about Epstein.
‘This guy’s been talked about for years… We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.’
The White House has said the footage and memo are both authentic. The FBI did not respond to specific questions about the file’s processing when asked by Wired, referring it to the DOJ.
The DOJ then referred inquiries back to the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons.
When contacted by the Daily Mail this week, the BOP declined to comment.
