Sunday, July 13, 2025

Epstein Prison Tape Released by FBI Was Likely Manipulated – HotAir

July 11, 2025
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The percentage of Americans who are passionate about the Epstein case is relatively small, but they are highly motivated and concentrated among Trump supporters. 





So it’s no surprise that the handling of the “disclosures” that were promised but never delivered is a big deal, and the biggest self-own of the Trump administration. At every step along the way, the administration–mainly Pam Bondi–has handled things in the worst possible way. 

First there were the promises, and then the fake “delivery” of the files early on. 

They made a big deal of a complete nothingburger.

Then there was the second go-around, where Bondi discovered “truckloads” of hidden evidence, and promised to release it all as quickly as possible. 

Instead, we got a leaked, unsigned memo released over the weekend that there was nothing to see and the case was closed. And a videotape–one that we were told for months didn’t exist–of “raw,” unedited video showing nobody entered the Epstein cell the night he died. 

Lots of people noticed that there appeared to be missing video, and now WIRED claims that it has evidence that the tape was “likely” modified. 

The evidence? Metadata–information embedded in a file that describes a digital trail–indicates that the file was manipulated. 

The United States Department of Justice this week released nearly 11 hours of what it described as “full raw” surveillance footage from a camera positioned nearby 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.





Running photographs or video through a commercial program to clean it up is hardly unheard of, but it also is not “raw” by any means. The files are manipulated, either just to clean them up or for other reasons, including changing them. As WIRED points out, we can’t say for sure WHAT they changed in Adobe Premiere, but we also know that by definition, the file is altered and not RAW. That doesn’t necessarily it was done so for nefarious reasons, but it raises the possibility. 

And the whole point of releasing the tapes was to quash doubts, not fuel them. 

Adding fuel to the controversy are reports that Dan Bongino is very unhappy with Bondi’s handling of the Epstein affair. It could be because he thinks there is a coverup–when he was on the air and doing his podcast, he was clear that he believed there was–or it could just be he is angry at how this has all been handled. 





In any case, he took today off, fueling even more speculation. 

Bongino is a man who wears his emotions on his sleeve and who values his integrity more than most. He is not given to shying away from difficult truths. Of course, rumors about conflict and the reality of working under pressure may be different than what media reports, but it certainly is plausible, even likely, that Patel and Bongino are angry at how badly this has been handled. 

It HAS been handled badly. 

FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios.

Why it matters: The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn’t have a celebrity “client list,” and that he wasn’t murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019.

  • Bongino didn’t come to work Friday, leading some insiders to believe he had quit. But administration officials say he’s still on the job, even as the internal tension over the Epstein case continues.
  • A source close to Bongino, though, said “he ain’t coming back.”

Zoom in: At the center of the argument: a surveillance video from outside Epstein’s cell that the administration released, saying it was proof no one had entered the room before he killed himself.

  • The 10-hour video had what has widely been called a “missing minute,” fueling conspiracy theories in MAGA’s online world about a cover-up involving Epstein’s death.
  • The “missing minute,” authorities say, stemmed from an old surveillance recording system that goes down each day at midnight to reset and record anew. It takes a minute for that process to occur, which effectively means that 60 seconds of every day aren’t recorded.





Everything we hear from inside the administration is filtered–who leaked it, why, and how much is spin and how much is really the inside scoop is hard to determine. 

But whatever the case, the question isn’t just who is to blame, but why is there so little available information? Why are there so many holes in the story?

We all want closure, and that requires disclosure. We were promised a lot, and little was delivered. 

Perhaps there is little more to learn, but we all doubt that for good reasons–reasons that include all these people telling us for years that there was more to the story. Not to mention that people in the know SAY there is more. 

Will the damage to the Trump administration be severe? Probably not with the general public, because this is issue #6 or #7 on their list of concerns. But a lot of MAGA folks are having their faith dented. They may not exactly blame Trump, but they will look for a scapegoat. 

Bondi is likely at the top of that list for them. 












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