The US Division of Justice this week launched practically 11 hours of what it described as “full uncooked” surveillance footage from a digital camera positioned close by Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell the night time earlier than he was discovered useless. The discharge was meant to deal with conspiracy theories about Epstein’s obvious suicide in federal custody. However as a substitute of placing these suspicions to relaxation, it might gasoline them additional.
Metadata embedded within the video and analyzed by WIRED and unbiased video forensics consultants exhibits that reasonably than being a direct export from the jail’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, probably utilizing the skilled modifying instrument Adobe Premiere Professional. The file seems to have been assembled from not less than two supply clips, saved a number of instances, exported, after which uploaded to the DOJ’s web site, the place it was offered as “uncooked” footage.
Consultants warning that it’s unclear what precisely was modified, and that the metadata doesn’t show misleading manipulation. The video could have merely been processed for public launch utilizing accessible software program, with no modifications past stitching collectively two clips. However the absence of a transparent rationalization for the processing of the file utilizing skilled modifying software program complicates the Justice Division’s narrative. In a case already clouded by suspicion, the paradox surrounding how the file was processed is probably going to supply contemporary fodder for conspiracy theories.
Any side of the official story that isn’t totally defined can be co-opted by conspiracy theorists, says Mike Rothschild, an writer who writes about conspiracy theories and extremists. “So no matter your taste of Epstein conspiracy is, the video will assist bolster it.”
For months main as much as the joint memo the DOJ and FBI printed Monday, lawyer common Pam Bondi had promised the discharge of data associated to Epstein, elevating expectations that new, doubtlessly incriminating particulars may floor in regards to the disgraced financier’s loss of life and his ties to highly effective people. Nonetheless, reasonably than revealing new info, the memo largely confirmed conclusions reached years earlier: that Epstein was present in a Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019, and died by suicide whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking fees.
To assist its conclusion, the FBI reviewed surveillance footage overlooking the frequent space of the Particular Housing Unit (SHU) on the Metropolitan Correctional Middle (MCC), the place Epstein was held. The FBI enhanced the footage by adjusting distinction, coloration, and sharpness, and launched each the enhanced and what it described as the “uncooked” model. Each variations of the video seem to have been processed utilizing Premiere and embody a lot of the identical metadata. In line with the FBI, anybody getting into the realm containing Epstein’s cell throughout the related timeframe would have been seen on that digital camera.
Working with two unbiased video forensics consultants, WIRED examined the 21-gigabyte information launched by the DOJ. Utilizing a metadata instrument, reporters analyzed each Exchangeable Picture File Format (EXIF) and Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) information to determine indicators of post-processing.
The “uncooked” file exhibits clear indicators of getting been processed utilizing an Adobe product, almost certainly Premiere, based mostly on metadata that particularly references file extensions utilized by the video modifying software program. In line with consultants, Adobe software program, together with Premiere and Photoshop, leaves traces in exported information, usually embedding metadata that logs which belongings have been used and what actions have been taken throughout modifying. On this case, the metadata signifies the file was saved not less than 4 instances over a 23-minute span on Could 23, 2025 by a Home windows consumer account known as “MJCOLE~1.” The metadata doesn’t present whether or not the footage was modified earlier than every time it was saved.