(NewsNation) — An attorney who has represented accusers of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is incredulous that the so-called “missing minute” of surveillance video from outside Epstein’s jail cell has surfaced, after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi insisted the footage did not exist.
Bondi previously explained the gap in the Aug. 9, 2019, video shot outside Epstein’s New York jail cell on the day he died by saying the recording system is reset each night and disrupts the continuity. The comment stoked conspiracy theories that the financier was murdered. This week, a document dump in the Epstein case included a copy of the jailhouse video with the minute intact.
“The buck stops with Pam Bondi, and she needs to go back and find out who’s given her blatant lies,” Joshua Schiffer told “Banfield” on Wednesday. “That is indefensible as the leader of such an important agency.”
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He said he’s reviewed the new footage and thinks “there’s not a lot there.” Schiffer said that makes it all the more confounding that the tape released previously by federal authorities had the cut.
“Why would they take out the minute? What was the goal? Why take the effort? Why create an issue?” the attorney said. “Wow. No one has an answer for that.”
The new version of jailhouse surveillance video was included within Epstein case material released Tuesday by a House Oversight Committee. Observers, including Schiffer, say the majority of documents were released previously.
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The information includes video shot during a 2005 raid inside Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, residence as he was being investigated for sexual abuse. On the walls are numerous paintings of naked women and a nude photograph of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking underage girls.
Also captured on the raid video are numerous photographs of Epstein with influential figures including Pope John Paul II and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
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In a resurfaced audio clip, an Epstein employee answers questions from police about the regular massages his boss received — twice daily — from a variety of young women who would come to the house. He stopped short of saying any were minors.
“And they would give massages sometimes to him and to his companions,” the employee said.
The reference to companions is telling, says Schiffer.
“The question now is: Who?” he said.
