U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is trying to calm backlash over a missing minute in surveillance footage from Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell.
A video released by the FBI and Justice Department on Monday shows about 11 hours of footage from the night Epstein died. But there’s a gap in the recording—from 11:58 p.m. to midnight. That missing minute has sparked renewed outrage and conspiracy theories, especially from the right.
“The video was not conclusive, but the evidence prior to it was showing he committed suicide,” Bondi said Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting.
She admitted the time gap is strange but insisted there’s an explanation.
“There was a minute that was off the counter, and what we learned from the Bureau of Prisons is every night they redo that video… So, every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing,” Bondi said.
“So we’re looking for that video to release that as well to show that a minute is missing every night. And that’s it on Epstein.”
Critics aren’t buying it.
Bondi is also facing heat over a February interview where she claimed an “Epstein client list” was sitting on her desk. Now, she says that comment was misunderstood, claiming she was talking about general Epstein case files.
The Justice Department memo released Monday says there is no client list, undercutting years of speculation online. That hasn’t stopped right-wing figures like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino—now top FBI officials—from promoting Epstein conspiracy theories in the past.
Bondi also defended the DOJ’s decision not to release all video evidence. She said thousands of hours of footage from the Epstein case include child sex abuse material and can’t legally be made public.
The new memo from the Justice Department says there’s no proof of a murder or cover-up. It concludes that Epstein died by suicide and that there is no secret list of high-profile clients.
Still, many in the MAGA crowd remain skeptical. They accuse Bondi, the DOJ, and the FBI of hiding the truth.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, pleaded guilty in 2008 to sexual misconduct and was arrested again in 2019 for running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls. He died in jail shortly after.
Watch the video below:
