FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino empathetically said that notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in 2019, and maintained that there is no evidence to suggest any alternative explanation, leaving MAGA conspiracy theories stunned.
Bongino and his boss, FBI Director Kash Patel, appeared on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to refute allegations that Epstein was murdered while he was in jail at New York City's notorious Metropolitan Correctional Center. Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019 and since then several conspiracy theories have floated surrounding the timing of his death During the bombshell interview, Bartiromo questioned Patel about the ongoing doubts and speculation surrounding Epstein's death.
Silencing Conspiracy Theorists
"I have reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. There's no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise," Bongino, a former conservative talk radio host, wrote on X. "I'm not asking you to believe me, or not. I'm telling you what exists, and what doesn't. If new evidence surfaces I'm happy to reevaluate."
Epstein's sudden death in 2019 has fueled widespread conspiracy theories and speculation, with many suspecting foul play was involved. A number of these theories suggest that powerful and wealthy people connected to Epstein might have had a motive to silence him.
During a Senate hearing held earlier this month, Patel firmly said that he considers Epstein's death to be a straightforward case of suicide, dismissing any alternative theories.
"Listen, they have a right to their opinion," Patel told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" about skeptics of his assessment.
"As someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor, who's been in that prison system, who's been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, who's been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that's what that was."
During a joint interview with Maria Bartiromo, Bongino supported Patel's stance on the matter. "He killed himself," Bongino said. "I have seen the whole file. He killed himself."
FBI Has No Doubts Over Epstein's Death
The disgraced financier and convicted pedophile was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019, with bedsheets tied around his neck, a little more than a month after his arrest. According to The New York Times, the two guards assigned to watch him that day fell asleep and failed to perform the mandatory 30-minute checks.
The surveillance cameras monitoring the hallway outside his cell were not working at the time and had already been malfunctioning beforehand, according to multiple reports.
Epstein's death was first officially ruled a suicide by a medical examiner.
However, his family brought in forensic pathologist Michael Baden, who argued that the evidence suggested homicide was a more probable cause than suicide.
Baden pointed to particular fractures in Epstein's hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage, which he claimed were more consistent with strangulation. Some other medical experts, however, questioned his findings.
"I stand firmly behind our determination of the cause and manner of death for Mr. Epstein. The cause is hanging, the manner is suicide," Dr. Barbara Sampson, New York City's chief medical examiner from 2013 to 2021, claimed at the time.
Sampson was the medical examiner who conducted Epstein's initial autopsy.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a batch of documents related to Epstein to MAGA-aligned influencers, though most of the material had already been made public, sparking widespread criticism of the move.
Following the backlash, Bondi later alleged that the FBI was keeping key information from her.
