Missing Minute in Jeffrey Epstein Video Raises Questions

Questions have been raised online about the hours of video footage released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) meant to prove that Jeffrey Epstein took his own life.

The video from the hallway outside Epstein’s jail cell on the night he died appears to be missing a minute just before midnight, with a digital clock on the screen seen skipping from 11:58:58 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

The footage was released alongside a two-page memo from the department that said after a “thorough investigation,” FBI investigators concluded that the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, died by suicide in his jail cell.

Newsweek has contact the DOJ for comment via an email sent outside regular business hours.

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House, on June 27, 2025, in Washington D.C.

Mehmet Eser/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Why It Matters

Authorities had ruled Epstein’s death a suicide, but conspiracy theories that he was killed to protect high-profile individuals have persisted. Some believed Epstein’s rumored “client list” would implicate prominent figures in sex crimes.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has for weeks promised that more documents from the Epstein investigation were going to be revealed after a first document dump she had hyped in February failed to deliver any new revelations. Ahead of that release, she had said in a Fox News interview that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk” for review.

In a since-deleted social media post, billionaire Elon Musk said without evidence during his acrimonious fallout with President Donald Trump last month that the Epstein files had not been released because Trump was featured in them. The president dismissed the claim, saying he “had nothing to do with it.”

What To Know

Those who had sought the release of the files have expressed outrage at the DOJ’s position, with some highlighting the minute that appears to be missing from the video and demanding an explanation.

Several accounts, with hundreds of thousands of followers, also pointed to the missing minute. One such account, Coffeezilla, describing themself as an “internet detective exposing scams,” with over 700,000 followers, wrote: “Why is there 1 minute missing from the EPSTEIN security camera footage?”

Conservative activist Robby Starbuck also shared a photo of Epstein’s cell from a CNN report from January 2020, saying the cell in the video footage does not appear to be the same one.

The memo released on Monday, which sought to put an end to expectations that more files would be released, said that the video supports the FBI’s independent review of the footage “confirmed that from the time Epstein was locked in his cell at around 10:40 pm on August 9, 2019, until around 6:30 am the next morning, nobody entered any of the tiers” in the Special Housing Unit.

The memo also said that Epstein did not maintain a “client list” and the department would not release any more files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation.

“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,'” the memo said. “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

The Justice Department had distributed binders marked “declassified” at the White House in February, but it quickly became clear that much of the information had long been in the public domain. This failed to tamp down conspiracy theories around Epstein’s case.

Bondi then said she had been made aware of the existence of thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents, and that they were being reviewed for release. She said in May that the FBI was reviewing “tens of thousands of videos” of Epstein “with children or child porn.”

The memo also said that the DOJ and FBI determined that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

It said that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and “only a fraction” of it “would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.”

The memo adds: “One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.”

Epstein was found dead in his jail cell inside New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019 as he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

What People Are Saying

Starbuck wrote on X: “There are some extremely bizarre things about the video of Epstein’s cell that Pam Bondi’s DOJ released as proof no one killed him. First, a full minute appears to be missing from the video and secondly, it does NOT appear to be the same cell as the photo released on Jan 5, 2020.

“Anyone else find this extremely troubling? Can you explain this @PamBondi @AGPamBondi?”

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson wrote on X: “The recently released Epstein security footage is missing a full minute. The footage cuts out at exactly 11:59:00 and picks back up at 12:00:00.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday: “The Trump administration is committed to truth and to transparency. That’s why the attorney general and the FBI director pledged at the president’s direction to do an exhaustive review of all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and his death. And they put out a memo in conclusion of that review. There was material they did not release because frankly it was incredibly graphic and it contained child pornography which is not something that’s appropriate for public consumption. But they committed to an exhaustive investigation. That’s what they did and they provided the results of that. That’s transparency.”