Amid mounting pressure about the documents and other evidence related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, the FBI had released the late s– offender’s jail footage from the night he died in July last year.
However, upon its release, it was revealed that there was a missing minute in the footage that consisted of two parts, one ending at 11.58.58 pm and another beginning at midnight, resulting in a 62-second gap.
Despite major scrutiny, General Attorney Pam Bondi did not talk about the real reason behind the missing minute and instead said, “There was a minute that was off that counter, and what we learned from Bureau of Prisons was every year, every night, they redo that video.”
“Every night is reset, so every night should have that same missing minute. So we’re looking for that video as well, to show it’s missing every night,” she said.
Unfortunately, Bondi’s statement was not accurate, as it has now come to light that the discrepancy happened because the FBI had destroyed the original copy of the surveillance footage from the night Epstein died.
According to CBS News, the version that was released was reconstructed from a different copy and thus the almost minute long gap was there.
🚨 NEW: Newly released documents show an FBI agent removed the hard drive from the jail’s camera system—wiping all footage from the night Jeffrey Epstein died.
No video. No record. No accountability.
They didn’t “lose” the evidence.
They erased it.
And they expect the public… pic.twitter.com/5p0aRZssY7
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 9, 2026
Records show that in June, 2024, an FBI agent had allegedly received the green signal to destroy evidence tagged 1B60 that was described as the master recording of archived video images from Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan where Epstein was found dead in April, 2019.
In February 2025, one FBI agent noted that the cast was closed. However, under the FBI guidelines if some piece of evidence remains undisposed then the case has to be kept open for investigation.
Pressure started to grow further regarding the release of Epstein related documents and footages and the Justice Department found it necessary to reconstruct the video to release the same.
As per a July summary that was prepared by FBI digital forensics section chief. Agents reportedly located another copy of the tape kept in two files on a NiceVision digital video recorder system used at the jail.
On May 21, 2025, using a screen capture tool, an agent rebuilt the whole video in two parts, which also consisted of the gap.
🚨 NEW via WIRED: Newly uncovered metadata reveals nearly 3 minutes were cut from the so-called “full raw” Epstein prison video released by the DOJ and FBI.
Officials claimed the footage was unedited—but it was stitched together in Premiere Pro. When WIRED asked for answers, the… pic.twitter.com/PU2pAlq80m
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 15, 2025
As observers pointed out this discrepancy, the full footage, including the missing minute was finally released by Congress last September. However, nothing unusual or extraordinary could be spotted in that minute.
With the release of new Epstein documents, various other previously unknown information is also coming to light, leading to more popular and well known names getting associated with the later finance mogul.
Moreover, while it was already known that Epstein’s connections and money resulted in his good relationship with top universities, it has now been revealed that he used his influence to get his last girlfriend Karyna Shuliak into the dental school of Columbia University.
The Justice Department already missed last year’s deadline to release all the relevant documents related to Epstein. Now with the emergence of new evidence, there are still a lot of names and pictures that have been redacted, which critics are interpreting as an attempt to protect the powerful.
