Mystery surrounds the Jeffrey Epstein files after Bondi claims 'tens of
thousands' of videos
[July 02, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a surprising statement from Attorney General
Pam Bondi as the Trump administration promises to release more files
from its sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein: The FBI, she
said, was reviewing “tens of thousands of videos” of the wealthy
financier “with children or child porn.”
The comment, made to reporters at the White House days after a similar
remark to a stranger with a hidden camera, raised the stakes for
President Donald Trump's administration to prove it has in its
possession previously unseen compelling evidence. That task is all the
more pressing after an earlier document dump that Bondi hyped angered
elements of Trump’s base by failing to deliver new bombshells and as
administration officials who had promised to unlock supposed secrets of
the so-called government “deep state" struggle to fulfill that pledge.
Yet weeks after Bondi’s remarks, it remains unclear what she was
referring to.
The Associated Press spoke with lawyers and law enforcement officials in
criminal cases of Epstein and socialite former girlfriend Ghislaine
Maxwell who said they hadn't seen and didn't know of a trove of
recordings like what Bondi described. Indictments and detention memos do
not reference the existence of videos of Epstein with children, and
neither was charged with possession of child sex abuse material even
though that offense would have been much easier to prove than the sex
trafficking counts they faced.
One potential clue may lie in a little-noticed 2023 court filing — among
hundreds of documents reviewed by the AP — in which Epstein’s estate was
revealed to have located an unspecified number of videos and photos that
it said might contain child sex abuse material. But even that remains
shrouded in secrecy with lawyers involved in that civil case saying a
protective order prevents them from discussing it.
The filing suggests a discovery of recordings after the criminal cases
had concluded, but if that's what Bondi was referencing, the Justice
Department has not said.
The department declined repeated requests from the AP to speak with
officials overseeing the Epstein review. Spokespeople did not answer a
list of questions about Bondi’s comments, including when and where the
recordings were procured, what they depict and whether they were newly
discovered as authorities dug through their evidence collection or were
known for some time to have been in the government's possession.
“Outside sources who make assertions about materials included in the
DOJ’s review cannot speak to what materials are included in the DOJ’s
review,” spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said in a statement.
Bondi has faced pressure after first release fell short of
expectations
Epstein’s crimes, high-profile connections and jailhouse suicide have
made the case a magnet for conspiracy theorists and online sleuths
seeking proof of a coverup. Elon Musk entered the frenzy during his
acrimonious fallout with Trump when he said without evidence in a
since-deleted social media post that the reason the Epstein files have
yet to be released is that the Republican president is featured in them.
During a Fox News Channel interview in February, Bondi suggested an
alleged Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk. The Justice
Department after that distributed binders marked “declassified” to
far-right influencers at the White House, but it quickly became clear
much of the information had long been in the public domain. No “client
list” was disclosed, and there’s no evidence such a document exists.
The flop left conservatives fuming and failed to tamp down conspiracy
theories that for years have spiraled around Epstein's case. Right
wing-personality Laura Loomer called on Bondi to resign, branding her a
“total liar."
Afterward, Bondi said an FBI “source” informed her of the existence of
thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents and ordered the
bureau to provide the “full and complete Epstein files," including any
videos. Employees since then have logged hours reviewing records to
prepare them for release. It’s unclear when that might happen.
In April, Bondi was approached in a restaurant by a woman with a hidden
camera who asked about the status of the Epstein files release. Bondi
replied that there were tens of thousands of videos “and it’s all with
little kids," so she said the FBI had to go through each one.
After conservative activist James O’Keefe, who obtained and later
publicized the hidden-camera video, alerted the Justice Department to
the encounter, Bondi told reporters at the White House: “There are tens
of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn.”
The comments tapped into long-held suspicions that, despite the release
over the years of thousands of records documenting Epstein’s activities,
damaging details about him or other prominent figures remain concealed.
The situation was further muddied by recent comments from FBI Director
Kash Patel to podcaster Joe Rogan that did not repeat Bondi's account
about tens of thousands of videos.
Though not asked explicitly about Bondi, Patel dismissed the possibility
of incriminating videos of powerful Epstein friends, saying, “If there
was a video of some guy or gal committing felonies on an island and I’m
in charge, don’t you think you’d see it?” Asked whether the narrative
“might not be accurate that there’s video of these guys doing this,” he
replied, “Exactly.”
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Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to the media, Friday, June 27,
2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. (AP
Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Epstein took his own life before he could stand trial
Epstein’s suicide in August 2019, weeks after his arrest, prevented
a trial in New York and cut short the discovery process in which
evidence is shared among lawyers.
But even in a subsequent prosecution of Maxwell, in which such
evidence would presumably have been relevant given the nature of the
accusations against an alleged co-conspirator, salacious videos of
Epstein with children never surfaced nor were part of the case, said
one of her lawyers.
“We were never provided with any of those materials. I suspect if
they existed, we would have seen them, and I’ve never seen them, so
I have no idea what she’s talking about,” said Jeffrey Pagliuca, who
represented Maxwell in a 2021 trial in which she was convicted of
luring teenage girls to be molested by Epstein.
To be sure, photographs of nude or seminude girls have long been
known to be part of the government's case. Investigators recovered
possibly thousands of such pictures while searching his Manhattan
mansion, and a videorecorded walk-through by law enforcement of his
Palm Beach, Florida, home revealed sexually suggestive photographs
displayed inside, court records show.
Accounts from more than one accuser of feeling watched or seeing
cameras or surveillance equipment in Epstein's properties have
contributed to public expectations of sexual recordings. A 2020
Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility report on
the handling of an earlier Epstein investigation hinted at that
possibility, saying police who searched his Palm Beach home in 2005
found computer keyboards, monitors and disconnected surveillance
cameras, but the equipment — including video recordings and other
electronic items — was missing.
There's no indication prosecutors obtained any missing equipment
during the later federal investigation, and the indictment against
him included no recording allegations.
An AP review of hundreds of documents in the Maxwell and Epstein
criminal cases identified no reference to tens of thousands of
videos of Epstein with underage girls.
“I don’t recall personally ever having that kind of discussion,”
said one Epstein lawyer, Marc Fernich, who couldn't rule out such
evidence wasn't located later. “It's not something I ever heard
about.”
In one nonspecific reference to video evidence, prosecutors said in
a 2020 filing that they would produce to Maxwell’s lawyers thousands
of images and videos from Epstein’s electronic devices in response
to a warrant.
But Pagliuca said his recollection was those videos consisted
largely of recordings in which Epstein was “musing” into a recording
device — “Epstein talking to Epstein,” he said.
A revelation from the Epstein estate
Complicating efforts to assess the Epstein evidence is the volume of
accusers, court cases and districts where legal wrangling has
occurred, including after Epstein's suicide and Maxwell's
conviction.
The cases include 2022 lawsuits in Manhattan's federal court from an
accuser identified as Jane Doe 1 and in the U.S. Virgin Islands,
where Epstein had a home, alleging that financial services giant
JPMorgan Chase failed to heed red flags about him being a
“high-risk” customer.
Lawyers issued a subpoena for any video recordings or photos that
could bolster their case.
They told a judge months later the Epstein estate had alerted them
that it had found content that “might contain child sex abuse
imagery" while responding to the subpoena and requested a protocol
for handling "videorecorded material and photographs." The judge
ordered representatives of Epstein’s estate to review the materials
before producing them to lawyers and to alert the FBI to possible
child sexual abuse imagery.
Court filings don't detail the evidence or say how many videos or
images were found, and it's unclear whether the recordings Bondi
referenced were the same ones.
The estate's disclosure was later included by a plaintiffs' lawyer,
Jennifer Freeman, in a complaint to the FBI and the Justice
Department asserting that investigators had failed over the years to
adequately collect potential evidence of child sex abuse material.
Freeman cited Bondi's comments in a new lawsuit on behalf of an
Epstein accuser who alleges he assaulted her in 1996. In an
interview, Freeman said she had not seen recordings and had no
direct knowledge but wanted to understand what Bondi meant.
“I want to know what she's addressing, what is she talking about —
I'd like to know that," she said.
___
Associated Press journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed
to this report.
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