DOJ Posted Fake Video Claiming to Show Epstein’s ‘Suicide’ Inside His Cell

The U.S. Department of Justice briefly posted a fabricated video online this week that appeared to depict Jeffrey Epstein’s death in his Manhattan jail cell. After the footage sparked widespread online controversy, the DOJ deleted it.

Fake Video Claiming to Show Epstein’s ‘Suicide’ Briefly Posted by U.S. Justice Department

A fake video that appeared to show Jeffrey Epstein inside his prison cell during the final hours of his life briefly surfaced online after being published by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The 12-second clip, which appeared under a Justice.gov URL and alongside other agency-released files, carried a timestamp of August 10, 2019, at 4:29 a.m. The video purported to show Epstein inside his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.

About two hours later, at approximately 6:30 a.m., a prison guard found Epstein dead in his cell. Authorities later said the convicted sex offender died by suicide after hanging himself with bedsheets.

The video appeared to be linked to an email that read, “Came across a purported video of Epstein’s suicide (leaked by anonymous source). Is this real???” The message referenced an attachment and included a link to a Google Drive file.

WIRED contacted the owner of the phone number listed in the email’s signature. Ali Kabbaj said he found the video on the dark web and sent it to federal investigators in 2021 seeking verification. He said he never received a response.

According to WIRED, the link to the video on the Justice Department’s website now appears to be inactive, though the footage closely matches a video uploaded to YouTube in 2019. The uploader described the clip as a “rendering 3D graphics.”

Experts say the video shows multiple red flags. The depicted door does not match photos of Epstein’s cell released by the Bureau of Prisons, and several visual elements lack true three-dimensional depth, making the footage resemble an animation rather than a real video.

Analysts point in particular to a cluster of orange, white, and gray shapes near the top center of the frame, noting that they appear flat and not three-dimensional at all.

Previous Investigation Found No Camera Inside Epstein’s Cell

A released investigation in June 2023 by the Justice Department’s Office found that no video camera was installed inside Jeffrey Epstein’s cell.

The report said that recorded footage from the special housing unit where Epstein was held on August 9 and 10 came from only one functioning security camera due to a malfunction, and that camera did not capture the interior of his cell.

The video also shows the lights on inside Epstein’s cell, a condition typically associated with inmates placed on suicide watch. However, Bureau of Prisons records state that Epstein was not on suicide watch at the time of his death.

The report said officials removed him from suicide watch on July 24, one day after a guard entered his cell shortly after 1 a.m. and found him with an orange cloth around his neck. According to the Bureau of Prisons, Epstein’s cellmate later confirmed that Epstein attempted suicide on the night of July 23.

In July, the Justice Department released what it described as “full raw” surveillance footage from the one operational prison camera at the time. As WIRED first reported, metadata indicated that the footage was altered, and further analysis revealed that the video consisted of two clips, with nearly three minutes of footage missing.

Latest Batch of Epstein Files Released by DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice has released an initial tranche of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, including photographs, videos, and investigative records.

The release drew intense anticipation after Congress passed legislation requiring the DOJ to make the full set of files public by Friday. However, Democrats and some Republicans accused the department of failing to meet its legal obligations after officials acknowledged they would not release all documents by the deadline.

On Saturday, the DOJ removed at least 13 files from its website. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche later said the department took down the materials to protect the privacy of victims.

The first batch of records references several high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.

The DOJ emphasized that appearing in the files or being photographed does not imply wrongdoing. Many individuals named in the documents, or in earlier Epstein-related releases, have denied any misconduct.

Several of the released images include former President Bill Clinton, who is also mentioned in the documents. One image appears to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across five people whose faces are redacted. Other images show him alongside celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and Diana Ross.

According to CBS, more than 550 pages of the documents released Friday were fully redacted. The redactions include a grand jury–related document in which all 100 pages were completely blacked out.

Who Is Jeffrey Epstein?

Jeffrey Epstein, an American millionaire, was known for his strong relationships with celebrities, politicians, billionaires, and academics. He was first arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005 after being accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex.

Epstein was born and raised in New York. In the mid-1970s, he taught math and physics at the private Dalton School in the city. According to the BBC, he studied physics and math in college but did not graduate.

The BBC also reported that before becoming wealthy, a parent of one of Epstein’s students introduced him to a senior partner at Bear Stearns, a Wall Street investment bank. After that, Epstein began to build his fortune, and by 1982, he launched his firm, J. Epstein & Co.

J. Epstein & Co. managed client assets worth more than $1 billion, the BBC reported. Epstein then purchased several properties, including a mansion in Florida, a ranch in New Mexico, and what was reputed to be the largest private home in New York City.

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