Unlabeled video since the recent Jeffrey Epstein files from the Department of Justice have been circulating on social media. While the 12-second video purports to show Epstein’s suicide in his prison cell, a document that preceded the release makes it clear that it did not come from the DOJ itself.
“I came across a video of Epstein’s alleged suicide (leaked by an unknown source),” the email reads, referring to an attachment and linking to a Google Drive file. “Is this true???”
WIRED spoke to the owner of the phone number listed on the website that was included in the email signature. Ali Kabbaj, who described himself as a freelance journalist, said he found the video on the dark web and sent it to government investigators in 2021 for verification. He says he never got an answer.
“I’m shocked that I’m in these files,” he told WIRED.
The video first surfaced when Drop Site News shared it on X as “the second video of 12 since 4:29 a.m. the day Jeffrey Epstein died.” Although this latest round of Epstein files is not on the DOJ website, they apparently guessed the link by following the URL formatting of the previous release. WIRED identified the email associated with the video by following the same formatting to view the previous file.
The link to the video file on the DOJ website now appears to be broken, but the video appears to be similar to a video that appeared on YouTube in 2019. The person who uploaded the video describes its content as “providing 3D images.” The DOJ did not return an immediate request for comment on why the link no longer works, but over the weekend, the department pulled several more files from its website for review and reordering.
In a June 2023 report on Jeffrey Epstein’s time in prison, the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General concluded that there was no video camera in Jeffrey Epstein’s cell. Indeed, on the night of Epstein’s death, “recorded video evidence … of the SHU area where Epstein was housed was only available from the prison’s security camera due to a malfunction of MCC New York’s Digital Video Recorder system that occurred on July 29, 2019.” The New York City medical examiner ruled Epstein’s suicide in August 2019.
Nevertheless, conspiracy theories have followed Epstein’s death, fueled in part by the circumstances of what video evidence exists. In July, the DOJ released what it described as “full raw footage” from the prison’s active camera. As WIRED first reported, the metadata indicated that the video had been altered. Further analysis by WIRED revealed that the video was actually two clips that were stitched together, cutting nearly three minutes of footage in the process.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the DOJ to publish all confidential records in its possession related to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein. So far, the files the DOJ has released include photos of Epstein’s island home and Manhattan townhouse, Epstein’s associates including Ghislaine Maxwell and former US president Bill Clinton, as well as various travel records and grand jury supplies.
