FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino have firmly asserted that Jeffrey Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 was a suicide, pushing back against persistent conspiracy theories that he was murdered to protect powerful individuals. Their comments came during a joint appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.“He killed himself,” Bongino said plainly during the interview. “I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself.” Patel backed this view, saying, “As someone who’s been a public defender, a prosecutor, who’s been in that prison system, you know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was.”
He acknowledged sceptics have a right to their opinion but insisted there was no foul play.Bongino reiterated his stance on X, writing: “I have reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. There’s no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise. If new evidence surfaces, I’m happy to reevaluate.”Epstein was found hanged in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide by New York City’s chief medical examiner. However, two guards on duty reportedly fell asleep and failed to check on him, and the hallway surveillance cameras had malfunctioned, a combination that fuelled public suspicion.Adding to the controversy, Epstein’s family hired forensic pathologist Dr Michael Baden, who concluded Epstein’s neck injuries suggested homicide. “The fractures were more consistent with strangulation,” he argued. However, Dr Barbara Sampson, the city’s medical examiner at the time, countered, “The cause is hanging, the manner is suicide. I stand firmly behind our determination.”The speculation around Epstein’s death was further stoked in February after US attorney general Pam Bondi released a batch of Epstein-related documents. As per Fox News, the files contained little more than contact information and did not reveal any so-called “client list,” prompting backlash from Republican lawmakers. Rep Anna Paulina Luna called the release “a complete disappointment,” demanding the full information be made public.Bondi later said that after pressuring the DOJ, she received “a truckload of evidence” from the Southern District of New York. She promised a full FBI report was coming, though none has been released yet.The Epstein case resurfaced in headlines recently after the death of Virginia Giuffre, one of his most prominent accusers. As per The New York Times, Giuffre died by suicide at her farm in Western Australia in April. She had sued Britain’s Prince Andrew in 2021, accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was a minor, a claim he denied but later settled privately.Giuffre had played a central role in publicly exposing Epstein’s crimes. In 2015, she gave up her anonymity and was quoted by The Mail on Sunday, “Basically, I was training to be a prostitute for him and his friends.” She said she was recruited at age 16 by Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of sex trafficking in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.During the interview, Bongino and Patel also hinted that more revelations related to FBI investigations were forthcoming. Patel alleged that former FBI leadership “withheld and hid documentation” related to several high-profile probes. “Just give us about a week or two,” he added, suggesting a new wave of transparency may be imminent.
