Exclusive: DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no "client list," died by suicide
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U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein in 2019. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
President Trump's Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a "client list" or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios.
- The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and "enhanced" versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.
- The video supports a medical examiner's finding that Epstein died by suicide, the two-page memo claims.
Why it matters: The findings represent the first time Trump's administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein's activities and his death — theories that had been pushed by the FBI's top two officials before Trump appointed them to the bureau.
- As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI's director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died.
- Patel and Bongino have since said Epstein killed himself. But it has become an article of faith online, especially on the right, that Epstein's crimes also implicated government officials, celebrities and business leaders — and that someone killed him to conceal them.
- The memo says no one else involved in the Epstein case will be charged. (Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.)
Zoom in: According to the memo, investigators closely examined footage of Epstein's Manhattan prison cell between around 10:40pm on Aug. 9, 2019, when Epstein was locked in his cell, and around 6:30am the next day, when he was found unresponsive.
- The footage, which was reviewed by Axios but couldn't be verified independently, showed no one entering the area, the administration said.
- "The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability," the memo says.
- Investigators found "no incriminating 'client list' " of Epstein's, "no credible evidence ... that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals," and no "evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties," the memo adds.
Zoom out: As MAGA influencers, Patel and Bongino had been among the loudest voices touting Epstein conspiracy theories.
- Since joining the government as Trump appointees, they've been more measured in talking about the Epstein investigation, and thrown cold water on the notion he was murdered.
- "He killed himself," Bongino said on Fox News in May. "I've seen the whole file."
MAGA's media universe and some of its voices on Capitol Hill have expressed frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case since February, when DOJ released a tranche of Epstein-related files that were already publicly available.
Conservative figures panned the disclosure, saying it lacked new information.
- "THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted then. "GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!"
The intrigue: When Elon Musk had a falling out with Trump last month, Musk accused the president of being "in the Epstein files."
- Trump posted on Truth Social a statement from former Epstein lawyer David Schoen, saying Trump wasn't implicated in any crime. Schoen had also represented Trump in his second impeachment trial.
Musk later deleted his accusation and other posts on X, saying he "went too far."
- Still, the questions about whether Trump's name is in the government's Epstein files have persisted because they had been acquaintances who attended the same parties in the 1990s.
- In a 2017 interview with author Michael Wolff, Epstein even claimed that at one point he was Trump's "closest friend."
- Trump, however, said in 2019 that he was "not a fan of Epstein" and hadn't "spoken to him for 15 years." He also said he had barred Epstein from his golf resorts in the early 2000s.
- Democrats, meanwhile, have demanded to know more about the Epstein-Trump relationship.
What's next: The DOJ and FBI say in the memo that no "further disclosure" of Epstein-related material "would be appropriate or warranted."
- The memo says much of the material relates to child sexual abuse, details of Epstein's victims, and information that would expose innocent individuals to "allegations of wrongdoing."
- "Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography," the memo says.
Axios' Marc Caputo contributed to this story.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say former Jeffrey Epstein lawyer David Schoen represented Donald Trump in Trump's second impeachment trial (not his first one).
