'Nearly impossible to explain': DOJ’s Epstein prison video wasn’t ‘raw’, report says it was edited in Premiere Pro
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Nearly impossible to explain': DOJ’s Epstein prison video wasn’t ‘raw’, report says it was edited in Premiere Pro")
DOJ’s Epstein prison video wasn’t ‘raw’, report says it was edited in Premiere Pro Photograph: (Reuters)
“The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website,” Wired reported.
A new report has raised questions over a video shared by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which claimed to show unedited footage of Jeffrey Epstein’s final hours in prison.
DOJ footage was edited, Wired reports
According to Wired, the hours-long clip released by the DOJ this week was likely edited using Adobe Premiere Pro. The DOJ had claimed the footage was “full raw” and unaltered, but experts told the magazine that the video appeared to be stitched together from multiple files.
“The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website,” Wired reported.
Metadata and aspect ratio raise doubts
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
Digital forensics expert Hany Farid from the University of California at Berkeley said the clip would not pass legal scrutiny due to the way it was processed. “If a lawyer brought me this file and asked if it was suitable for court, I’d say no. Go back to the source. Do it right. Do a direct export from the original system, no monkey business,” Farid told Wired. Farid also said the video’s aspect ratio changed “noticeably” several times, further suggesting it had been altered. “Why am I suddenly seeing a different aspect ratio?” he asked.
Pressure mounts on Trump and DOJ
The findings have renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration, which has faced internal tensions over how it is handling the Epstein case. President Donald Trump previously vowed to declassify information about Epstein’s associates and the circumstances of his 2019 death in a New York prison. Many of Trump’s supporters believe Epstein was murdered to protect powerful figures connected to his alleged crimes.
Critics have also pointed to confusion surrounding an FBI-DOJ memo leaked earlier this week. The memo claimed there was no “client list” tied to Epstein’s alleged trafficking ring, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi stating in February that such a list existed and was on her desk.
Trump brushes off Epstein questions
When asked again about Epstein at a recent press event, Trump dismissed the topic. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years … We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable,” he said. Trump has previously been photographed with Epstein and has been criticised for his changing stance on the case.
Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, responded to the Wired story by saying he now suspects something is being covered up. “I am probably among the least conspiracy-minded people you would ever meet, but this is getting pretty nearly impossible to explain,” he posted on social media.
While the Wired analysis does not accuse the DOJ of tampering with evidence, experts say calling the footage “raw” when it clearly has signs of editing only fuels public distrust.
