Convicted sex offender and millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein was not murdered in his jail cell, according to video evidence the FBI is about to release along with a tranche of stunning, previously undisclosed files stashed away in a hidden room.
The video, according to the FBI, debunks years of conspiracy theories, including one posted on social media by President Trump, claiming Epstein was murdered to silence him from revealing the wealthy and powerful clients he allegedly connected to underage girls for sexual trysts.
Epstein was found unresponsive in a Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019. At the time, he was being held on federal sex trafficking charges and was known to have been connected with powerful figures such as former President Bill Clinton, tech billionaire Bill Gates and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
In 2019, Mr. Trump retweeted conspiracy theories linking Bill and Hillary Clinton to Epstein’s death amid revelations that Mr. Clinton had traveled on Epstein’s private jet.
“Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH? Yeah right! How does that happen #JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he’s dead,” said a post retweeted by Trump and written by conservative commentator Terrence K. Williams.
It turns out, there was no secret plot to silence Epstein.
“He killed himself,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Mr. Patel, appearing on Fox News’ “Special Report” on Wednesday, said there was no evidence Epstein was murdered in his jail cell.
On Thursday, Assistant FBI Director Dan Bongino told the network the bureau will soon release a jailhouse video proving Epstein’s death was a suicide.
“There’s video, and we will release it,” Mr. Bongino said.
The video does not depict Epstein committing suicide but shows no one entering or leaving his jail cell, he said.
“You’re going to be stunned,” he said, but did not provide additional details about the files.
“There’s no DNA, no audio, no fingerprints, no suspects. There’s no accomplices. There’s no tips. There is nothing. There’s video clear as day. He’s the only person in there and the only person coming out. You can see it.”
Mr. Bongino also said the FBI is prepping to declassify and release files stashed away from the era of James B. Comey, the FBI director who launched the secretive “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation and wiretapping of President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Some of the files were found in bags and were connected to the Comey-era FBI. They were revealed to Mr. Bongino and Mr. Patel by FBI employees who wanted the files to be exposed.
Mr. Comey served as director from 2013 until Mr. Trump fired him in May 2017.
“There was a room, and we found stuff, a lot of stuff … hidden from us at least, and not mentioned to us. A lot of it is from the Comey era,” Mr. Bongino said.
Mr. Bongino said he’s working to declassify the material and release it to the public.
“You’re going to be stunned,” he said.
President Trump appointed Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino to reform the FBI, which under Mr. Comey and his successor, Christopher A. Wray, was accused of becoming politically weaponized against Mr. Trump and Republicans.
Since taking over the bureau, the two have worked to release thousands of previously classified or unreleased documents related to high-profile cases, including Epstein’s.
The wealthy and well-connected financier was accused of sex trafficking underage girls, allegedly to a high-profile client list that has never been made public.
The secret list, and the possibility of video evidence, led to claims that Epstein was murdered in his jail cell to prevent him from revealing his clients.
The theories were fueled by perplexing security failures at the Manhattan jail. Two cameras monitoring Epstein’s jail cell malfunctioned, and guards were not monitoring him despite recently taking him off suicide watch.
The medical examiner’s office ruled Epstein’s death a suicide by hanging. But famed pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, hired later by Epstein’s brother, said the evidence pointed to strangulation as a more likely scenario.
The circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death spawned years of claims that Epstein didn’t kill himself. Some people are clinging to the theory despite Mr. Patel’s denial, among them online conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who appeared on a podcast hosted by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon.
“Obviously, Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself,” Mr. Jones said.
The FBI is planning to make public thousands of documents related to Epstein’s case. Agents are poring through the material to conceal the victims’ identities.
There are also “tens of thousands” of videos recorded by Epstein that the FBI is also reviewing, much of it child pornography, Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this month.
Court documents from a settled lawsuit that were released last year included names of luminaries who were previously revealed in flight logs kept for the disgraced financier’s private jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express.”
One female witness said Epstein told her that Mr. Clinton “likes them young, referring to girls.”
But convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell testified that Mr. Clinton never visited Epstein’s private island, Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where some of the sex abuse took place.
At least one victim implicated President Trump, but there is no evidence he participated in Epstein’s sex crimes. Mr. Trump said he was “not a fan” of Epstein and banned him from his Mar-a-Lago club before 2008, when, according to a book about the president, Epstein hit on the teenage daughter of another club member.
Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre settled a lawsuit with Prince Andrew for a reported $16 million. She claimed Maxwell forced her to have sex with the British royal when she was 17 years old. He denied her charges.
She died by suicide in April.
In a 2021 interview with CNN, Mr. Gates called his association with Epstein “a huge mistake,” fueled by his desire to connect with Epstein’s wealthy friends who could provide funding for his global health initiative.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.