In a twist that once again throws up controversy and conjecture about the Jeffrey Epstein inquiry, U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi has raised eyebrows with allegations that there are 10,000s of videos the FBI is going through of Epstein and children or child porn.
The remark was conveyed publicly and in a casual off-guard conversation recorded on hidden camera, and has both raised eyebrows and expectations, but has not been backed up with facts.
These statements of Bondi were made as the Trump administration still keeps its word about transparency and accountability in one of the most publicized criminal cases in the XXI century.
However, weeks after making these statements, no new bombshell evidence has emerged and authorities with knowledge of the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell case report that they have not heard of such a vast vault of video.
An Intriguing assertion
Bondi issued the remarks in a June press briefing at the White House when she announced that the FBI was reviewing a huge amount of recordings purportedly linked to the sex abuse ring of Epstein.
“Tens of thousands of Epstein videos with children or child porn,” said Bondi.
This assertion was given days after she had made a similar assertion in a viral hidden-camera video recorded by a woman who approached her in a restaurant. The videos, released by conservative activist James O Keefe, show Bondi discussing the videos in a relaxed manner and citing the latter as the cause of holding back additional Epstein records to be issued to the general population.
Nevertheless, the senior lawyers, law enforcement officers, and legal professionals working on the case of Epstein or Maxwell said to the Associated Press that such a compilation of the recordings was never produced, mentioned, or put to use in any criminal cases.
Epstein and Maxwell were both accused of sex trafficking and abuse, but neither was accused of having sex abuse material concerning children, which would have been much simpler to prove in their cases in the event of the existence of such videos.
What then is Bondi Talking About?
A possible tip-off here could be a court filing in 2023 by Epstein estate, which states it has found some videos and photographs that could contain child sex abuse pictorials. The contents were supposedly discovered under a subpoena as part of a civil law suit and were turned over to the FBI.
However that conclusion is still under protective orders and lawyers on both sides of the case claim the law prohibits them to comment. The Justice Department and the FBI have refused to clarify on several occasions.
DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement to AP: “Outside sources who make claims regarding the inclusion of materials into the DOJ review cannot comment on what materials are present in the DOJ review.”
Skepticism and Fallout
Even Bondi has already been met with severe conservative backlash amid prior vows of bombshell that after the greatly hyped release of supposedly so-called Epstein files earlier this year, nothing of note transpired.
The documents were shared in binders marked as declassified with far-right media figures, but the information there was largely recycled and already present in public records. It contained neither a list of clients nor any shocking new names, though Bondi had earlier teased that such a list was on her desk.
The aftermath was rapid. Bondi was criticized by online figures such as Laura Loomer who labeled Bondi a “complete liar” and said she should resign. Even among his own supporters, there was exasperation at what some felt was an exaggerated claim to deliver, and then not delivering on what they felt would reveal a deep state of elites linked to Epstein.
Bondi now has doubled down, saying that other materials were found and that the FBI has been ordered to declassify the so-called complete Epstein files, although not presenting a specific date.
Contradictory Voices
To further add to the confusion, FBI Director, Kash Patel, in a June podcast with Joe Rogan, rejected the notion that videos implicating Epstein had been found.
When asked about a possible video of a fellow man or woman committing felonies on the island, he said: “If there was such a video, don’t you think that you would see it, because I am in charge, and it is not going to be the big story that it is.”
In the meantime, lawyers that represented Maxwell claim they never saw any such videos.
Jeffrey Pagliuca, who defended Maxwell at her 2021 trial, said that Maxwell was never given any of those materials. I suppose had they been there, we would have noticed them.
He continued by stating that the minimal amount of video material they got was mostly Epstein filming himself and not other people.
What We Know Had Been Discovered
What is established is that when law enforcement authorities paid a visit to the Manhattan mansion of Epstein in 2019, they found hundreds, perhaps thousands of sexually suggestive images, including pictures of naked or semi naked girls. His home was featured in walkthrough videos that contained explicit artwork and surveillance cameras, with many cameras disconnected or lacking, a 2020 DOJ report said.
Others who have accused him said that they thought they were being recorded at the time of their abuse and it has been speculated that there are blackmail tapes. Nevertheless, such videos never appeared publicly or in court.
New Legal Pressure
Later in a new case, Jennifer Freeman, a lawyer who represents one of the Epstein accusers, relied on Bondi latest comments and made a complaint to the DOJ. She is insisting that there be some transparency regarding what Bondi was talking about and what of these so-called tens of thousands of videos will be made available or presented in court.
Freeman told the AP, I want to know what she is talking about, what she is addressing, I would like to know that.
Conclusion
As the mystery unfolds, the Epstein files still are an epitome of extreme public interest and political unrest. The outlandish statements made by Bondi have simply stoked a fire that was already out of control, yet with very little substance and chronology members are becoming frustrated even amongst the people who believed her all along.
It is doubtful these so-called videos existed or still do. My conclusion about the Epstein case, at least at this point, is that it remains in the grey area between what has been documented, what is sealed, and a cloud of unanswered questions.
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