A missing minute of CCTV footage from outside Jeffrey Epstein's cell on the night of his death has been released by the US House oversight committee, contradicting Attorney General Pam Bondi's assertion that the footage was recorded over. The video was part of a cache of 33,000 pages of records related to the disgraced financier, released late on Tuesday.
The footage, from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, shows a handful of guards working outside Epstein's cell and reveals nothing out of the ordinary. Observers had previously noted a one-minute gap from 11:59 pm to midnight on 10 August 2019, fueling conspiracy theories. Bondi had claimed the prison's CCTV system reset every 24 hours, causing a missing minute each night.
However, CBS reported in July that the Justice Department, Bureau of Prisons, and FBI possessed a full version including the missing 60 seconds. Tuesday's release supports this, including two hours of previously unseen video. Other new images show Epstein being escorted by guards to make a phone call.
Most of the released files are already publicly known, including court documents related to Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is reportedly pressing the Trump administration for a pardon. The release comes as President Donald Trump faces renewed scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein.
The controversy has caused a split among Republicans, with some demanding more transparency. Congressman Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, joined Democrat Ro Khanna in filing a discharge petition to force release of all Epstein files. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the effort 'meaningless,' prompting Massie to accuse him of fearing Trump.
On Wednesday, Epstein's victims and other survivors of sexual abuse held a rally in Washington DC to demand justice, with some speaking publicly for the first time.
