Jeffrey Epstein files released by House panel include court docs, videos, flight records

Some of the documents released by House lawmakers date back 20 years, covering an initial criminal investigation into Epstein launched by local police in Palm Beach, Florida.

That investigation controversially ended in a deal in which Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges and, in exchange, Miami-based federal prosecutors promised not to bring charges.

Many of the Epstein documents included in Tuesday’s release appeared to already be in the public domain.

The records include court papers that were filed in the Justice Department’s 2019 case against Epstein and its 2020 case against his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. 

When the Justice Department and FBI released nearly 11 hours of footage in July, the time code on the screen jumped forward one minute just before midnight, prompting questions about the one-minute gap.

The newly released video is not missing the minute between 11:59 p.m. and 12 a.m.

In July, Attorney General Pam Bondi said a minute of footage was missing because the New York City jail’s antiquated security cameras automatically cut out for one minute per night, but a source told CBS News that authorities possessed a copy of the video that does not have a minute missing.

The new video also shows previously unreleased footage from hours earlier of Epstein being brought up the stairs of the G tier in the detention center to make a phone call.

The material released includes 13 hours and 41 seconds of video from the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s Special Housing Unit, from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., Aug. 9-10, 2019, when Epstein was found dead in his cell. 

Two months ago, the Justice Department released video from the same camera that only covered 7:40 p.m. to 6:40 a.m., a period of time that is two hours shorter.

The new video has a different font on screen and appears more likely to be the raw output of the video. When federal officials originally released the jail video, they attested that it was “raw footage,” but the presence of a cursor and onscreen menu raised questions about that. Video forensics experts told CBS News those images indicated the video was likely a screen recording rather than an export directly from a DVR system.

The records released by the House Oversight Committee appear to include a combination of videos, audio recordings and text files — including emails and court documents.

Some of the documents include redactions.

It remains unclear whether the files contain any new information. Many files from the Justice Department’s investigations into Epstein — who was charged in 2019 but faced an earlier federal investigation in the 2000s — have already been made public.

Prior to the release of the Epstein documents, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. Robert Garcia of California, met with Epstein accusers on Capitol Hill.

In a gaggle with reporters, members stressed systemic government failures in the investigation into Epstein, and pledged renewed pressure for files and accountability. They described what one member called a “cover-up of epic proportions,” praised the accusers’ courage and said some victims were telling their stories publicly for the first time.

“About a month ago, we forced a vote to subpoena the Department of Justice to release all of the files associated with the Epstein case,” Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania told reporters. “Since then we’ve seen only a trickle of papers, an attempt to obstruct justice and distract from what we are here to do. No one should be above the law—not princes, not elected officials, not wealthy billionaires—and it was the government itself that failed these women.”

A House committee has released tens of thousands of Justice Department documents from the federal investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail while awaiting trial in 2019.

The files were published by the House Oversight Committee after it subpoenaed the Justice Department for records on Epstein.

In a statement Tuesday, the committee said the Justice Department “has indicated it will continue producing those records while ensuring the redaction of victim identities and any child sexual abuse material.”