In a brand new improvement that pushes again towards persistent conspiracy theories, the Division of Justice and the FBI have concluded there is no such thing as a proof that convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed highly effective figures or maintained a “shopper record.”1 This official discovering straight contradicts a current declare by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who final month asserted that the true cause the Epstein shopper record had not been launched on the primary day of Donald Trump’s presidency was as a consequence of Trump’s identify being on it.
A memo detailing the businesses’ findings states that President Trump’s Justice Division and FBI have totally reviewed the matter and located no credible proof to assist the existence of such a listing.2 Moreover, the memo reaffirms the earlier conclusion that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 whereas in a Manhattan jail.3 To assist this, the administration is releasing surveillance video footage, in each uncooked and “enhanced” variations, which it claims signifies nobody entered the world the place Epstein was held on the evening of his dying.4 This video proof, in keeping with the memo, helps the health worker’s discovering that his dying was certainly a suicide.5
These findings mark the primary official time that Trump’s administration has straight refuted the quite a few conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s actions and the circumstances of his dying. Notably, a few of these theories had beforehand been amplified by outstanding figures throughout the MAGA group, together with Kash Patel, now the FBI’s director, and Dan Bongino, now deputy director, earlier than their appointments to the bureau. Each Patel and Bongino have since acknowledged their perception that Epstein killed himself.
Regardless of the persistent on-line narrative, notably on the fitting, that Epstein’s crimes implicated quite a few authorities officers, celebrities, and enterprise leaders, and that somebody could have killed him to hide their involvement, the Division of Justice’s memo asserts in any other case.6 It additionally states that nobody else concerned within the Epstein case will face additional fees. Epstein’s affiliate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is at the moment serving a 20-year sentence for baby intercourse trafficking and associated offenses.7
