Jeffrey Epstein did not have a secret client list, he was not murdered in jail, and there is no evidence that he blackmailed powerful people, according to a new report.
A memo from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, shared with reporters at Axios and ABC News, has detailed the newly released findings.
The memo aims to shut down years of conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s 2019 death and his ties to the rich and famous.
Highlights
- The DOJ and FBI confirm Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, debunking murder conspiracy theories surrounding his 2019 death in jail.
- An FBI review of the jail video shows no one entered Epstein’s cell, and investigators found no secret client list or blackmail evidence.
- The memo states no credible evidence links Epstein to blackmailing or implicates uncharged third parties in sex trafficking.
The DOJ and FBI debunk conspiracy theories and confirm that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in jail
Image credits: Kypros/Getty Images
It states that Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail while waiting for his trial for sex trafficking charges.
He acted alone and did not keep a list of clients he may have trafficked girls to, according to the memo.
The memo says the FBI reviewed video footage from inside the jail between around 10:40 pm on Aug. 9, 2019, when Epstein was locked in his cell, and around 6:30 am the next day, when he was found unresponsive.
The footage was reviewed by Axios, which verified that the video showed no one entering the area.
"The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability," the FBI memo says.
It further states that investigators found "no incriminating ‘client list’” of Epstein’s, “no credible evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals,” and no “evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
The video verifies what the medical examiner’s assessment had said post-mortem: Epstein died by suicide.
At the time, some members of Epstein’s family claimed he may have been killed and hired a private pathologist. The pathologist had argued that the injuries appeared to be from a homicide.
But according to this latest memo, the FBI found no evidence of foul play.
U.S. President Donald Trump, during his 2024 campaign, had promised to release the so-called “Epstein Files.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi also previously said the client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”
The team said Epstein's client list does not exist either
Image credits: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
But when some of the records were released earlier this year, they mostly included already-public information. There was no bombshell list.
Bondi, at the time, blamed the FBI for not abiding by her directive to provide the “full and complete” set of Epstein-related documents that were in the government’s possession.
Since then, conspiracy theorists have turned on FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino for supposedly succumbing to the so-called “Deep State” since taking up their roles.
The two had previously promoted Epstein-related conspiracy theories.
"Listen, that Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal, please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on this," Bongino said in his podcast back in 2023.
Similarly, before joining Trump’s bureau, Patel had said in 2023, “Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are.”
In May, Bongino told Fox News, “He killed himself, I've seen the whole file.”
“He’s the only person in there and the only person coming out. You can see it.”
Things became even more heated after Elon Musk, who headed up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said Trump was implicated in the files during a public feud.
Image credits: The White House
“That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk wrote in a since-deleted post on X.
Subsequently, 2017 audio resurfaced of journalist Michael Wolff’s interviews with Epstein.
In one of the audio clips, Epstein claimed Trump first slept with his now-wife, Melania, aboard the ‘Lolita Express’, Epstein’s private jet.
The private jet was reportedly used to fly young women between Epstein’s homes in New York and Florida.
Trump’s team has strongly denied all of the allegations in the tapes.
Trump had promised to release the Epstein Files during his 2024 campaign
Image credits: Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
Now, the DOJ and FBI memo tries to put the conspiracy surrounding Epstein’s death and his client list to rest.
It states that beyond Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking, no one else will face charges.
But many critics refuse to believe the findings. Conservative voices on social media have called the memo a cover-up.
“So Epstein was trafficking these underage girls to nobody? Is Pam Bondi serious,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck posted on X.
“What Epstein and his ilk did was pure evil and this memo attempts to just close the book on it like there’s no one else involved.”
In 2019, new charges were filed against him for running a sex trafficking ring involving minors.
One of his most well-known accusers, Virginia Giuffre, said she was abused and even used as a “sex slave” for years by Epstein and Maxwell and was forced to have sex with powerful men, including Prince Andrew; a claim the royal strongly denies.
Epstein was arrested again in July 2019 but died just 36 days later in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
His death sparked wild theories, including that he was murdered by some of the rich and famous on whom he had incriminating information.
“No further disclosure of Epstein-related material would be appropriate or warranted,” The DOJ and FBI concluded in the memo.