(LifeSiteNews) — The recently released Epstein files contain a draft statement by a federal prosecutor announcing Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide one day before his official death.
According to a report by the Daily Beast, the draft appears among “at least 23 documents in the disclosure labeled as statements from the Southern District of New York’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
The files contain multiple versions of similar statements with varying degrees of redactions, some leaving nearly all identifying information blacked out and some leaving names and phone numbers unredacted.
The draft is dated Friday, August 9, 2019. However, Epstein was officially found dead in his cell after 6:30 a.m. on August 10.
Statement announcing Jeffrey Epstein’s death emerges from files… but it’s dated a day BEFORE he “killed himself”. https://t.co/TiHQiNnN2w pic.twitter.com/CkuidyISD6
— Melissa Wong (@Melissa_WongMT) February 8, 2026
The statement by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said, “Earlier this morning, the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges brought by this Office of engaging in the sex trafficking of minors, had been found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly thereafter.”
“Today’s events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein’s many victims their day in Court.”
“To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so, let me reiterate that we remain committed to standing for you, and our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing.”
The version of the statement originally published in 2019 was dated August 10, aligning with the official narrative of Epstein’s death.
The infamous convicted sex offender was awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors and conspiracy at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan when he was found dead on the morning of August 10, 2019. While his death was officially ruled a suicide by hanging by the New York City medical examiner, his passing came amid an improbable cascade of alleged security failures. The dubious circumstances of his death, combined with the fact that Epstein could potentially have revealed damning information on many rich and powerful elites in his circles, causes many to doubt the official narrative.
Nicholas Tartaglione, Epstein’s former cellmate, has claimed Epstein was purposefully left unprotected while in federal custody. According to prison records, guards assigned to monitor the jailed millionaire socialite did not conduct the scheduled inmate counts at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., or did they conduct the mandatory 30-minute checks on Epstein. Moreover, two of the security cameras positioned directly in front of Epstein’s cell malfunctioned the night he died. Additionally, forensic experts have said that the cell where Epstein died was left in disarray and was never properly inspected.
Furthermore, newly released records that were reviewed by CBS News show discrepancies in the different reports of what happened during the night before Epstein was found dead.
A functioning surveillance camera showed a small part of the staircase leading to the tier where Epstein’s cell was located, where an “orange flash” can be seen at about 10:39 p.m. on August 9. An observation log by the FBI describes the figure as “possibly an inmate,” while a separate review by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General said it was a corrections officer, possibly Tova Noel, carrying orange-colored bedding or linen. However, Noel told investigators, “I never gave out linen. Ever.”
“Because that’s done on the shift prior,” she added.
Independent video analysts cited by CBS said the movement captured on camera was more consistent with that of an inmate or someone wearing an orange uniform. Prison employees said that escorting an inmate at that hour, after prisoners have been locked down for the night, would have been highly unusual.
This discrepancy challenges the official assertions that no one entered Epstein’s tier that night, fueling speculation about what exactly occurred on August 9 and 10, 2019, inside the Manhattan prison.