The US Division of Justice this week released almost 11 hours of what it described as “full uncooked” surveillance footage from a digital camera positioned close by Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell the evening earlier than he was discovered useless. The discharge was meant to handle conspiracy theories about Epstein’s obvious suicide in federal custody. However as an alternative of placing these suspicions to relaxation, it could gasoline them additional.
Metadata embedded within the video and analyzed by WIRED and unbiased video forensics specialists reveals that quite than being a direct export from the jail’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, possible utilizing the skilled enhancing device Adobe Premiere Professional. The file seems to have been assembled from not less than two supply clips, saved a number of occasions, exported, after which uploaded to the DOJ’s web site, the place it was offered as “uncooked” footage.
Specialists 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 obtainable 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 enhancing software program complicates the Justice Division’s narrative. In a case already clouded by suspicion, the anomaly surrounding how the file was processed is probably going to supply recent fodder for conspiracy theories.
Any facet of the official story that isn’t absolutely defined will likely be co-opted by conspiracy theorists, says Mike Rothschild, an creator 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, legal professional basic 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, quite than revealing new data, 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 prices.
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 “raw” version. Each variations of the video seem to have been processed utilizing Premiere and embrace a lot of the identical metadata. In keeping with the FBI, anybody coming into the world containing Epstein’s cell in the course of the related time-frame would have been seen on that digital camera.
Working with two unbiased video forensics specialists, WIRED examined the 21-gigabyte information launched by the DOJ. Utilizing a metadata device, reporters analyzed each Exchangeable Picture File Format (EXIF) and Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) information to establish indicators of post-processing.
The “uncooked” file reveals 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 enhancing software program. In keeping with specialists, Adobe software program, together with Premiere and Photoshop, leaves traces in exported information, typically embedding metadata that logs which belongings had been used and what actions had been taken throughout enhancing. On this case, the metadata signifies the file was saved not less than 4 occasions over a 23-minute span on Might 23, 2025 by a Home windows consumer account referred to as “MJCOLE~1.” The metadata doesn’t present whether or not the footage was modified earlier than every time it was saved.