In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino insisted that disgraced financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his Manhattan jail cell.
Jeffrey Epstein was discovered dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August 2019. The chief medical examiner in New York City ruled that his death was a suicide by hanging.
He was scheduled to stand trial on federal charges of sex trafficking in minors. His death sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories, with many speculating that he was murdered to protect the powerful figures who worked with him.
Epstein knew former President Bill Clinton, former MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, and Prince Andrew. Following Epstein’s death, the phrase “Epstein didn’t kill himself” went viral on the internet. When questioned by Bartiromo, Patel insisted that his death was a suicide.
“As someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor who’s been in that prison system, who’s been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, who’s been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was,” Patel told reporters shortly after Epstein’s death. He also stated that those who disagree with him “have the right to their opinion.”
“He killed himself,” according to Bongino. “I’ve seen the whole file, he killed himself.”
Conservatives were outraged in February when the Trump administration’s Justice Department facilitated the release of documents related to the Epstein case, which critics claimed was “a complete disappointment.” The documents did not include a so-called “client list,” nor did they reveal anything new about Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking.
“Neither I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents released today. According to a recent New York Post story, the documents will simply be Epstein’s phonebook, which is not what we or the American people asked for and is a complete disappointment. Get us the information we requested!” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, posted on X.
Following the backlash, Attorney General Pam Boni told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in March that the Justice Department had received “thousands of pages” of additional documents from the DOJ office in the Southern District of New York after giving them a deadline to hand them over.
Bondi claimed that the DOJ had received a “truckload of evidence” and that the FBI would provide a detailed report soon. There has been no report issued to date.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein and Prince Andrew, committed suicide in April. Giuffre, 41, was one of the most prominent accusers to come forward.
She sued Prince Andrew in New York in 2021, claiming she was forced to have sex with him three times between 1999 and 2002. She claimed she was recruited by Epstein’s then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell when she was only sixteen.
