Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed questions about the missing minute in Jeffrey Epstein’s jailhouse surveillance video during a Trump Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, prompting renewed skepticism from MAGA supporters.
Bondi was pressed by a reporter on several topics, including a newly released DOJ memo, Epstein’s alleged intelligence ties, and discrepancies in the jailhouse footage.
“Your memo released yesterday on Jeffrey Epstein left some lingering mysteries. One of the biggest ones is whether he ever worked for an American or foreign intelligence agency.”
"Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?"
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) July 8, 2025
President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi responded to questions about Jeffrey Epstein during a Cabinet Meeting. pic.twitter.com/SOeNIA85No
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” the reporter asked.
“So could you resolve whether or not he did? And also, could you say why there was a minute missing from the jailhouse tape?”
Bondi responded, “The video was not conclusive, but the evidence prior to it was showing he committed suicide.”
She added, “And there was a minute that was off the counter, and what we learned from the Bureau of Prisons is every night they redo that video, so every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing.”
A Department of Justice memo obtained by Axios claimed there was no incriminating “client list,” and that Epstein died by suicide.
However, prominent conservative voices such as Mike Benz, Jack Posobiec, and Glenn Beck expressed frustration with what they see as a lack of transparency.
Mike Benz called on the DOJ to release a full transcript of the 2020 DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility interview with former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, particularly focusing on Epstein’s possible intelligence ties.
If Pam Bondi's DOJ is serious about transparency around Epstein's intelligence ties, the DOJ will immediately make public the DOJ OPR's 2020 transcribed interview of Alex Acosta with its full set of questions about the intelligence issue, so we know exactly what was asked and… https://t.co/qIGIlDWPbk pic.twitter.com/45d9NJzOPS
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) July 11, 2025
Glenn Beck criticized Bondi’s handling of the situation, accusing her of incompetence. “What the DOJ gave us was a partial view of the facility, which JUST MISSES Epstein’s cell,” Beck wrote. “We’ve known for years there wasn’t a working camera on his cell, so WHY RELEASE THIS VIDEO? And why not tell us there’s a video glitch in advance of the release?!”
Posobiec, who received Epstein-related documents from Bondi earlier this year, expressed his anger on his show, saying, “I am sick of the lies! …You looked at us and you lied right to our faces.”
The nearly 11 hours of surveillance footage released shows the common area outside Epstein’s cell in the Special Housing Unit from the night of August 9 through the early hours of August 10 — the night of Epstein’s death, according to official reports.
The FBI reportedly enhanced the footage for better clarity and viewability. However, a noticeable jump in the timestamp — from 11:58:58 p.m. to 12:00:00 a.m. — raised concerns, especially since the footage does not include the moment guards entered Epstein’s cell and found his body.
Images previously released by CBS News’ 60 Minutes in 2020 showed Epstein’s cell door marked with yellow police tape. Observers pointed out discrepancies between those images and the angle shown in the newly released footage, particularly the cell door itself.
A federal indictment stated that weeks before his death, Epstein was found “on the floor of his cell with a strip of bedsheet around his neck.” Epstein claimed he was assaulted by his cellmate, former police officer Nick Tartaglione. Tartaglione denied the allegation, and his lawyer maintained, “Absolutely nothing like that happened,” adding that jail officials had cleared his client.
Critics have not accused Bondi of covering anything up — but are calling for her resignation over what they describe as mismanagement. Beck reiterated his position by stating, “Not only is there a minute missing from the Epstein cell video, BUT IT WASN’T EVEN THE RIGHT CAMERA ANGLE.”
