CBS News investigation of Jeffrey Epstein jail video reveals new discrepancies
In the weeks after Jeffrey Epstein died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, in August 2019, then-Attorney General William Barr said his "personal review" of surveillance footage clearly showed that no one entered the area where Epstein was housed, leading him to agree with the conclusion of the medical examiner that Epstein had died by suicide .
It's a claim that's been repeated by other top federal officials, including FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" in May, "There's video clear as day — he's the only person in there and the only person coming out."
But a CBS News analysis of the video the FBI made public earlier this month reveals that the recording doesn't provide a clear view of the entrance to Epstein's cell block — one of several contradictions between officials' descriptions of the video and the video itself.
CBS News also digitally reconstructed the Special Housing Unit, or SHU, where Epstein was held, using diagrams and descriptions from the 2023 report on Epstein released by the Justice Department inspector general. The CBS News review found the video does little to provide evidence to support claims that were later made by federal officials. Additionally, CBS News has identified multiple inconsistencies between that report and the video that raise serious questions about the accuracy of witness statements and the thoroughness of the government's investigation.
