A fake video appearing to depict the final hours of Jeffrey Epstein's life was released alongside other files concerning the disgraced and deceased man.
The Epstein Files, or at least a significant chunk of them, were released by the US Department of Justice on 19 December, the deadline for when they had been ordered to be made available to the public.
Many of the images and names in the files are redacted, and a number of documents contain pretty much no information as it has all been blacked out, but there are thousands of files which have been released that include recognisable faces. However, according to PEOPLE, there was something else released among the files.
A 12 second video with a Justice.gov URL appeared to show Epstein in his cell dated to 10 August, 2019, at 4:29 am.
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The convicted sex offender was found dead in his cell at 6:30am that same morning, with his death ruled to be a suicide by hanging.
PEOPLE reports that this video appeared to show a man attempting to hang himself, but it contradicts a Bureau of Prisons report released in June 2023 which says there was no camera recording in Epstein's cell when he died.
The report explained: "Recorded video evidence for August 9 and 10 for the SHU (special housing unit) area where Epstein was housed was only available from one prison security camera due to a malfunction."
They also noted several discrepancies in the video itself, including the door not matching photos of Epstein's cell door, and they suggested it looks more like an animation than real footage.
The video has since been taken down.
Since the 19 December deadline, when the DoJ was legally bound to release everything it had, the Epstein Files have been coming in various waves.
Some of the other things taken down after being released included a photo of pictures on Epstein's desk featuring US President Donald Trump, which the BBC reports was later re-released after being reviewed.
Those going through the files noticed that at least 13 files which had been released were missing afterwards.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted that the photos were not taken down because they contained Trump, but because they included unredacted images of women.
Speaking yesterday, Trump said that many of the people who featured in pictures contained in the files were people who 'innocently met' Epstein, as he spoke about former US President Bill Clinton featuring in them.
He said: "I like Bill Clinton. I hate to see photos come out of him. There's photos of me too. Everybody was friendly with this guy.
"You probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago, and they're highly respected bankers and lawyers and others.
"But they're in a picture with him because he was at a party and you ruin a reputation of somebody."
The former president has never been accused of wrongdoing by survivors of the offender’s abuse and has denied knowledge of Epstein's sex offences.
LADbible Group has contacted the US Department of Justice for comment.
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, US News, Politics
Joe Harker