A significant development has emerged in the ongoing investigation surrounding the prison death of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. A so-called “missing minute” of CCTV footage, which has long fueled conspiracy theories about Epstein's demise, has now been found. This discovery contradicts previous claims made by Pam Bondi, the attorney general, who asserted that the footage had been recorded over.
The video was included in a cache of documents comprising 33,000 pages of records related to the disgraced financier and former associate of Donald Trump. These materials were released late on Tuesday by the US House Oversight Committee, which has been scrutinizing Epstein's death in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
In July, a government review confirmed the conclusion that Epstein died by suicide. Subsequently, the FBI released hours of surveillance footage from outside Epstein’s jail cell on the night of his death. However, observers quickly noted an unexplained gap in the timestamps, specifically a block of one minute missing from 11:59 PM to midnight on August 10. Epstein was discovered unresponsive in his cell at 6:30 AM the following morning.
This apparent “missing minute” ignited conspiracy theories suggesting foul play in Epstein's death. Bondi's earlier insistence that the prison's CCTV system was routinely reset every 24 hours only fueled suspicions. During a cabinet meeting on July 8, she stated that the absence of footage from that particular minute was standard procedure. However, reports from CBS later indicated that there was no blackout in the recordings, and that the Justice Department, Bureau of Prisons, and the FBI possessed a complete version that included the missing 60 seconds.
The congressional release on Tuesday, which revealed the previously unseen footage among two hours of video, showed nothing particularly alarming. It featured a few guards working outside Epstein’s cell and included images of Epstein being escorted by guards to make a phone call. This release has added more layers to the ongoing dialogue about transparency and accountability in Epstein's high-profile case.
As of Wednesday, there has been no immediate response from Bondi’s office or the FBI regarding the newfound footage. Most of the files released on Tuesday were already publicly known or accessible, with many being images of court documents related to Epstein and his former accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for sex-trafficking crimes.
The release of these documents comes at a time when Trump is facing renewed scrutiny over his ties to Epstein, who was part of Trump's affluent network in Palm Beach and New York. Calls for greater transparency from both Republicans and Democrats have intensified, especially with lawmakers returning to Washington DC after the summer recess. This controversy has exposed a rare rift within the Republican Party, with some members showing unwavering loyalty to Trump while others criticize the administration’s secretive handling of the Epstein case.
Congressman Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, has teamed up with Democrat Ro Khanna to file a discharge petition in the House aimed at forcing the release of all Epstein-related files. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, has dismissed Massie’s efforts as “meaningless,” urging his colleagues not to support the petition. In response, Massie told Fox News Digital that Johnson's reluctance stems from fear of President Trump, suggesting that Johnson’s leadership is precariously linked to Trump’s influence.
On Wednesday, a rally and press conference took place in Washington DC, where several of Epstein’s victims joined other survivors of sexual abuse to demand justice. This event marked a significant moment for many survivors who chose to speak publicly for the first time, emphasizing the ongoing struggle for accountability and recognition of the trauma they endured.
