WATCH: MS NOW’s Ari Melber Raises New Questions About Epstein’s Death in Splashy Deep Dive

MS NOW’s Ari Melber raised shocking new questions about the death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday in a deep dive report charting the events around his death. Melber’s report on The Beat spanned a whopping 20 minutes of airtime over two segments, diving deep into a years-long timeline of contaminated evidence, conflicting reports, and flawed prison policies. The primary bombshell from Melber’s report came in discussing the controversial footage of Epstein’s cell before his death. The MS NOW host called out President Donald Trump’s former Deputy Director of the FBI Dan Bongino for claiming that there was nothing worth seeing on that footage. “The Trump official was wrong,” said Melber. He then broke down a newly released document in the DOJ disclosure of files relating to Epstein that called into question the agency’s own statements about his death. Previously, the DOJ claimed that the last time someone was in the vicinity of Epstein’s cell was shortly before 11PM, when an officer passed by. “The DOJ said the officer was the last time anyone entered the area, but the Epstein files have revealed a secret FBI log of the same video, which spotted a flash of orange going up the stairs,” said Melber. He continued:

Inmates wear orange, not officers. The FBI stating a quote “flash of orange looks to be going up the stairs. Could possibly be an inmate escorted up to Epstein’s tier.” Now, the FBI’s own video review detected that prison orange uniform of a possible inmate. That’s big. This review had the evidence– orange that could be an inmate, but we are now learning it was cut, hidden, or accidentally left out of the DOJ report. The new files reveal this never before seen set of details about Epstein’s area on the night of his death, and we can show you the locked tier around Epstein’s cell. 10:39 P.M that night, a blurry orange figure appears. The original FBI log calls it that ‘flash of orange could possibly be an inmate.’ And note that careful description, because then the DOJ review of the same footage changes it to write, quote, “Inmates are currently on lockdown. It’s possible someone is carrying inmate linen up the stairs.” Now that’s a huge difference. It replaces observation– orange– with conjecture. Inmates are on lockdown, so they shouldn’t be around. But the rule that inmates are supposed to be on lockdown doesn’t resolve whether one wasn’t, just like Epstein was supposed to get those 30 minute checks, but didn’t. […] The fact is, the DOJ’s own watchdog report minimized the FBI evidence. That is just a fact.

Melber also noted that the newly-released files showed footage of the scene around Epstein’s cell as his body was discovered. He highlighted that the FBI did not arrive at the prison until seven hours later, when prison officers had already contaminated the crime scene. “The cell was in disarray, the crime scene tainted under Trump DOJ authority, and the feds didn’t fingerprint or DNA test materials in the cell, which is basic forensics to check if others were in the cell or touched items,” said Melber. “The jail had control of the scene but mismanaged the evidence. How bad was it? Well, officers found Epstein with a noose around his neck, but by the time they were done tainting the crime scene, the feds were never even able to establish which noose killed Epstein.” President Trump’s DOJ declared last year that there was no sign that the financier was murdered in prison, following a 2019 New York medical examiner report ruling the death a suicide. But the MS NOW host ended his report with a call for a “fuller investigation,” arguing the existing evidence does not sufficiently prove how the sex offender died. “Epstein’s life was a criminal conspiracy, and his death became a mystery. First plagued by the Trump DOJ failures, then heightened by government secrecy across two administrations. This new transparency and evidence undercuts some of those past claims,” said Melber. “It clearly shows the need for a fuller investigative, independent accounting, from Epstein’s crimes to his time in custody. And as of this hour, it does not yet provide definitive proof for how his life ended.” Watch above via MS NOW. New: The Mediaite One-Sheet “Newsletter of Newsletters” Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!