Unidentified folks carrying binders bearing the seal of the US Justice Division studying “The Epstein Information: Part 1” stroll out of the West Wing of the White Home in February. The Trump administration had promised it will launch paperwork on late tycoon and convicted intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein who was discovered useless in his jail cell in 2019.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Pictures
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Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Pictures
The Justice Division and the FBI have discovered no proof that disgraced financier and convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein had a “shopper record” or that he blackmailed distinguished associates.
The conclusions are included in a two-page memo outlining the “exhaustive assessment” the division performed of the Epstein information in its possession. The memo additionally states that after a “thorough investigation,” the FBI discovered that Epstein died by suicide, which aligns with earlier division conclusions.
The findings contradict previous statements from Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi about an alleged record of Epstein shoppers. And it is unclear if the memo will tamp down on the continued public skepticism about Epstein’s case, notably his suicide.
Epstein died at a federal lockup in New York Metropolis in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking expenses. His dying has fueled quite a few conspiracy theories, notably on the far proper, due to his ties to the rich and highly effective and the continued hypothesis surrounding his dying.
Axios was the primary to report on the memo.
Bondi has lengthy promised to launch paperwork from the Epstein investigation. She made public a small batch of information in February, and stated the transfer was a part of the administration’s “dedication to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
That very same month, she informed Fox Information in an interview that Epstein’s shopper record was “sitting on my desk proper now to assessment.”
Greater than 4 months later, the division memo instantly contradicts her.
“This systematic assessment revealed no incriminating ‘shopper record.’ There was additionally no credible proof discovered that Epstein blackmailed distinguished people as a part of his actions,” the memo says. “We didn’t uncover proof that might predicate an investigation in opposition to uncharged third events.”
Requested Monday about Bondi’s earlier remarks, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to minimize the discrepancy.
“She was saying the whole thing of all of the paperwork, the entire paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes,” Leavitt informed reporters. “That is what the lawyer normal was referring to, and I will let her communicate for that.”
Leavitt added that the lawyer normal and the FBI director pledged, at Trump’s path, to conduct an exhaustive assessment of the Epstein supplies “and that is what they did, they usually supplied the outcomes of that. That is transparency.”
Suicide consistent with prior findings, medical proof
The unsigned memo says the FBI and the division went via its investigative information associated to Epstein—digital searches of databases, arduous drives, community drives and bodily searches of cupboards, desks and closets—to search out any and all related supplies.
Epstein’s died by suicide on Aug. 10, 2019 on the Metropolitan Correctional Heart in New York Metropolis, in line with the memo. It notes that the conclusions is per earlier findings, together with these of the town’s chief medial examiner, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Manhattan and the DOJ’s inspector normal.
It says the conclusion his dying was by suicide can be supported by video footage from the widespread space of the jail unit the place Epstein was being held when he died.
“Anybody getting into or making an attempt to enter the tier the place Epstein’s cell was situated … would have been captured by this footage,” the memo states. “The FBI’s impartial assessment of this footage confirmed that from the time Epstein was locked in his cell at round 10:40 pm on Aug 9, 2019, till round 6:30 am the subsequent morning, no one entered any of the tiers.”
FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have beforehand raised questions concerning the official account of Epstein and his dying. Since taking prime jobs on the bureau, although, they’ve publicly acknowledged that Epstein killed himself.
Each males confronted backlash on-line from conspiracy theorists.
The memo states that there are greater than 1,000 victims of Epstein’s abuse, and that delicate data on these people is contained within the investigative information. It says that combatting little one exploitation and offering justice to victims are prime priorities, and that “perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of these ends.”
“To that finish, whereas we now have labored to offer the general public with most data concerning Epstein and ensured examination of any proof within the authorities’s possession, it’s the dedication of the Division of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no additional disclosure can be acceptable or warranted,” the memo says.
