FBI Director Kash Patel testified before Congress on Thursday, stating that he does not believe Jeffrey Epstein was murdered.
The comment came during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, where Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) questioned Patel on a variety of issues, including the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.
“Did Jeffrey Epstein hang himself or did somebody kill him?” Kennedy asked.
Patel replied, “Senator, I believe he hung himself in a cell in the Metropolitan Detention Center.”
Kennedy pressed further, asking, “Are you going to release all the information about that?”
“Senator, we are working through that right now with the Department of Justice,” Patel replied, according to NewsNation.
Epstein died by apparent suicide in his federal jail cell in New York City in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his Department of Justice to release all files related to Epstein.
Ahead of the partial release of Epstein-related files in late February, Attorney General Pam Bondi described Epstein’s actions in multiple interviews as “pretty sick.” The documents released included flight logs, but offered little new information, as most of the content was already publicly known.
The Department of Justice initially provided access to some files to a select group of conservative influencers, a move that drew criticism for its lack of substance.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. His longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in aiding Epstein in the trafficking of minors.
Bondi gave an update on the timetable for releasing the remaining files during a press briefing outside the White House on Wednesday.
Bondi revealed that the FBI is analyzing “tens of thousands of videos of [Jeffrey] Epstein with children or child porn” and that there are “hundreds of victims” as she addressed concerns about the delay in releasing the case files.
“The FBI, they’re reviewing – there are tens of thousands of videos, of Epstein with children, or child porn. And there are hundreds of victims. And no one victim will ever get released. It’s just the volume, but the FBI is diligently going through that,” Bondi told reporters on Wednesday morning, explaining that the volume of evidence was why more files had not yet been provided.
Epstein’s riches and altruism made him a prominent figure in politics, academics, and finance.
However, the full nature of his crimes remains unknown, including whether he had any collaborators other than his incarcerated partner, Maxwell, and the new Trump administration has promised complete openness of the files.
Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky and the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has previously expressed his concern that important Epstein records have been destroyed prior to the inauguration of the Trump administration.
“The president ordered them released, the attorney general ordered them released, we all know they have not been released,” Comer told The Benny Show recently.
Comer is a member of the House Oversight Task Force on the declassification of government secrets, which is working on the Epstein files. The task force is managed by Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).
Last month, one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, allegedly ended her own life after reportedly struggling with mental health issues for many years.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” her family said in a statement. “Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.”