Donald Trump has truly put himself between a rock and a hard place. Experts are saying that the video that Pam Bondi presented pertaining to the alleged Epstein suicide has been tampered with. The Department of Justice released nearly eleven hours of raw 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.
Any aspect of the official story that isn’t fully explained will be co-opted by conspiracy theorists, says Mike Rothschild, an author who writes about conspiracy theories and extremists. “So whatever your flavor of Epstein conspiracy is, the video will help bolster it.”
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.
For those of you who can understand the technical aspects of this, the article goes on to elaborate. The tape clearly shows that it was spliced together from two different sources and there is an issue of the chain of custody. The article goes on to say, “the FBI did not respond to specific questions about the file’s processing, instead referring WIRED to the DOJ. The DOJ in turn referred inquiries back to the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons. The BOP did not respond to a request for comment.”
This is exactly the problem here. The different video formats, the different aspect ratios, the now-famous one-minute gap representing the time in which the tape was changed, all lead to conspiracy theory. But the fact that the Department of Justice won’t answer questions and this eternal loop exists between the DOJ and the FBI and the BOP is actually the most concerning of all.
And bear in mind here, MAGA has been waiting for a great revelation. And Pam Bondi herself got MAGA all primed and wired when she passed out Epstein notebooks that simply presented a rehash of the same old same old and nothing new.
If I had to make a guess at this point it would be that: Dan Bongino will go back to podcasting, where he’s actually suited to the job and makes more money, anyhow. And Kash Patel may find an exit strategy as well. I don’t think the Department of Justice will ever release anything new on Epstein, whether they have it in their possession or not, and that is at the direction of their Orange Overlord.
Somehow this is beginning to feel a lot like Watergate, trump edition.
Well, other than the fact that, during Watergate, even GOPers weren’t willing to tolerate the bad behavior coming from the White House. I haven’t really heard any of the GOP’s Congress critters expressing any concerns or calling for “investigations” into the issue (which, of course you know, would be forthcoming and never-ending if this had happened if Biden or Harris were President and the list just “disappeared” from the DOJ and/or the FBI; in fact, committees which have no oversight like the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs would be charged with beginning investigations into the matter).
the quoted section suggests that the video originated in digital form so while it is annoyingly common practice to use the terms tape and taped I don’t see anything indicating that any actual tape existed so I don’t understand why there would be a one minute gap to change tapes. as for your conclusion, yeah. people can whine as loudly as they want but trump is never going to allow the actual material to be released. even having himself and selected others scrubbed would take time and leave uncomfortable gaps (though I’m really flabbergasted that that has not already occurred, even covering up for orange boy they are mind blowingly incompetent).
This Don Lemon podcast with Epstein’s brother yesterday is more than interesting. It points to murder not suicide.