'Missing minute' of Epstein jail tape held by FBI, source alleges
The Justice Department released earlier this month nearly 11 hours of surveillance footage of the area of the prison leading to Epstein's cell the night he died. It was meant to prove that no one went towards the convicted child offender that night as conspiracies raged that Epstein was murdered to prevent him from spilling secrets about high-profile co-conspirators.
Sleuths quickly found there was a one–minute gap in the footage overnight from August 9 to August 10, 2019, which only led to more speculation that a cover-up was underway. The time code on the screen jumped forward one-minute just before midnight. When the video was released earlier this month, it was described as 'raw' footage.
Attorney General Pam Bondi (pictured) was questioned about the video in a July 8 Cabinet meeting, and she claimed the Bureau of Prisons told her it was an antiquated process that happened every night when the tapes automatically reset. Now it's revealed the FBI is in possession of a version of the video that includes the missing minute. It's unclear why the section was missing when the video was released earlier in July or what is in the video that wasn't previously shown. And there are still questions swirling over whether the Justice Department will decide to release the found minute.
Bondi has taken much of the brunt of the criticism over the administration's handling of the Epstein files over the last month. In an unsigned joint memo made public on July 6, the DOJ and FBI claimed a months-long review of the files found that the disgraced financier and offender was not murdered in his cell. It also concluded that there was no so-called 'client list' of co-conspirators and said that no one else would be charged in relation to his crimes.
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The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Colorado deputies disciplined for helping federal immigration agents
Two Colorado deputies have been disciplined for violating state law by helping federal agents make immigration arrests, and their sheriff says officers from other agencies have done the same. One of the deputies, Alexander Zwinck, was sued by Colorado's attorney general last week, after his cooperation with federal immigration agents on a drug task force was revealed following the June arrest of a college student from Brazil with an expired visa. Following an internal investigation, a second Mesa County Sheriff's Office deputy and task force member, Erik Olson, was also found to have shared information. The two deputies used a Signal chat to relay information to federal agents, according to documents released Wednesday by the sheriff's office. Zwinck was placed on three weeks of unpaid leave, and Olson was given two weeks of unpaid leave, Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell said in a statement. Both were removed from the task force. Two supervisors also were disciplined. One was suspended without pay for two days, and another received a letter of reprimand. A third supervisor received counseling. State laws push back against Trump crackdown The lawsuit and disciplinary actions come as lawmakers in Colorado and other Democratic-led states have crafted legislation intended to push back against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Since Trump took office, pro-immigrant bills have advanced through legislatures in Illinois, Vermont, California, Connecticut and other states. The measures include stronger protections for immigrants in housing, employment and police encounters. Trump has enlisted hundreds of state and local law enforcement agencies to help identify immigrants in the U.S. illegally and detain them for potential deportation. The Republican also relaxed longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools, churches and hospitals. Zwinck was sued under a new state law signed by Gov. Jared Polis about two weeks before the arrest of the student from Brazil. It bars local government employees including law enforcement from sharing identifying information about people with federal immigration officials. Previously, only state agencies were barred from doing that. It's one of a series of laws limiting the state's involvement in immigration enforcement passed over the years that has drawn criticism and a lawsuit from the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued Illinois and New York, as well as several cities in those states and New Jersey, alleging their policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal immigration laws. Officers say they were following established procedures Zwinck and Olson told officials they thought they were operating according to long-standing procedures. However, the internal investigation found they had both received and read two emails prior to the passage of the new law about previous limits on cooperation with immigration officials. The most recent was sent on Jan. 30, 2025, after an official for Homeland Security Investigations, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had asked state and local law enforcement officers at a law enforcement meeting to contact HSI or ICE if they arrested a person for a violent crime who was believed not to be a citizen, the investigation documents said. The email said not to contact HSI or ICE. Zwinck said he didn't know about the new law and was not interested in immigration enforcement. 'When I was out there, I wanted to find drugs, guns and bad guys," Zwinck said at a July 23 disciplinary hearing. "And sending that information to HSI they provided the ability to give me real time background information on the person I was in contact with,' he said. Olson, who said he had been with the sheriff's office 18 years, testified at his disciplinary hearing that it was 'standard practice' to send information up to federal agents during traffic stops. "It was routine for ICE to show up on the back end of a traffic stop to do their thing,' Olson said. 'I truly thought what we were doing was condoned by our supervision and lawful.' A lawyer at a law firm listed as representing both deputies, Michael Lowe, did not immediately return a telephone call or email seeking comment. Rowell said drug task force members from other law enforcement agencies, including the Colorado State Patrol, also shared information with immigration agents on the Signal chat. The state patrol denied the claim. The sheriff faulted Attorney General Phil Weiser for filing the lawsuit against Zwinck before a local internal investigation was complete. He called on the Democrat, who is running for governor, to drop it. 'As it stands, the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office sends a demoralizing message to law enforcement officers across Colorado — that the law may be wielded selectively and publicly for maximum political effect rather than applied fairly and consistently,' he said. Weiser said last week that he was investigating whether other officers in the chat violated the law. Spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco said Weiser was presented with evidence of a 'blatant violation of state law' and had to act. "The attorney general has a duty to enforce state laws and protect Coloradans and he'll continue to do so,' Pacheco said. ___ Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Trump's bill comes due: Tariff day is here ... but if TACO's on the menu, the charade is over
Donald Trump's tariff deadline is once again coming down to the wire but now, the bill is due — and Trump has a choice before him: enforce the levies against the nation's trading partners or TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). The president said in July that the end of his 90-day pause would be marked by a month of last-minute dealmaking, as countries attempted to get agreements in place before the resumption of tariff enforcement on Aug. 1. As Wednesday morning dawned in DC, the president seemingly indicated that his days of 'pauses' were over. In a Truth Social post, Trump declared: 'THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE — IT STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED.' Yet, at the same time, he undermined that message. A separate announcement from his Truth account declared progress in talks with Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico. Greasing the wheels for those talks, Trump said, would be what he just said wouldn't happen: a tariff pause (sort of). The president wrote (in lowercase this time) that tariffs with Mexico would continue at current rates for another 90 days. 'The complexities of a Deal with Mexico are somewhat different than other Nations because of both the problems, and assets, of the Border,' Trump offered as explanation. So where does that leave American businesses, and the White House itself as it pertains to Trump's credibility on trade issues? Some experts were flummoxed on how businesses should plan for the future after enforcement begins on Friday. They pointed to the president's preference for informal trade agreements, which many argue do not constitute real agreements at all, to wit: — The White House has not released specific details or produced written agreements to back up many of the president's claims. — Because they did not receive congressional approval, there's no formal enforcement measures. — And Trump's own proclamations often differ from those of his foreign negotiating partners. David Townsend, a trade-focused litigator with Dorsey & Whitney, also noted the lack of details governing rules of origin for imported products. 'There could be different rules of origin for different products, or across the different trade agreements. From an investment and trade standpoint, it is very difficult to tell how these rules of origin will operate, what the impact will be on investments, and to particular industries. Companies will need to wait until the details are released of how the particular agreements will operate,' he told The Independent. 'In short, it is not possible to predict how these trade agreements will work in practice, how certain businesses will be impacted by them, and what kind of import compliance challenges will arise under the new agreements,' Townsend said. CNN's Richard Quest summed up his own feelings: 'I stand by my comment that the trade deals being announced are largely garbage because they are so uncertain with no mechanisms for enforcement or even any idea of how to make them happen.' The uncertainty around what the trade landscape will look like come Monday could be the reason why the Dow Jones Industrial Average stalled this week and didn't seem to react upon news of Trump's tariff extension with Mexico. But experts across the board agree that it seems as if Trump's reciprocal tariffs are now here to stay in some fashion — the only question remaining is how high they will go. Trade groups representing industries targeted by individual tariff rates continue to push for zero-to-zero tariff rates, but those seem out of reach after the announcements of recent handshake-deals with the EU and UK. With those new tariff rates, it's also a certainty that consumers will continue to feel the price hikes that American retailers began exhibiting over the summer, only to a higher degree. The bill is finally coming due. Gemma Thompson, a senior consultant with a firm specializing on supply-chain logisitics, explained: " For EU exporters, the challenge now is how to absorb or pass on the additional cost. Where margins are tighter, we're likely to see knock-on effects to US consumers.' Given the murkiness around enforcement measures and the unequal 'reciprocal rates,' Thompson noted, US importers will also likely explore routing goods through lower-tariff countries acting as middlemen. With Trump putting his foot down on Thursday, it's clear that the coverage of Wall Street's derisive 'TACO' nickname irked the president, or at the very least drove home the notion that he risked his credibility crossing further self-drawn red lines. But what remains to be seen is how much damage was already done by the president's 90-day pause and the general campaign to keep his supporters on his side Trump has launched since January. Amid a firestorm around Jeffrey Epstein and after the exhausting marathon fight to pass the 'big, beautiful' budget reconciliation package, many businesses and even some trading partners around the world could be gambling that the US president is running low on political capital. A sudden downturn in the markets or painful consumer price hikes could be more than the president can handle, in the view of his critics.
The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Jilted Barney's heir claims his dead mother and siblings masterminded $20 million tax fraud scheme: lawsuit
An heir to the now-defunct luxury department store Barney's is accusing his late mother and siblings of orchestrating a tax fraud scheme to evade paying $20 million to New York state, according to a lawsuit. Bob Pressman, the 71-year-old grandson of the retail giant founder Barney Pressman, alleged his family conspired to avoid paying New York state income and estate taxes by falsely claiming that his mother lived in Florida, a lawsuit obtained by the New York Post alleges. In reality, Phyllis Pressman, the plaintiff's mother, lived in Southampton, New York, for the last six years of her life, according to the complaint. She died in Palm Beach, Florida, in April 2024 at the age of 95. She 'freely told the people around her that she did not like Florida and did not intend to make it her permanent home,' the complaint states. Phyllis was the widow of Fred Pressman, the founder's son. Barney's, founded in 1923, got its start selling suits; 30 years later, Fred took over and transformed it into a luxury business. Fred died in 1996 and four years later, she moved to West Palm Beach. She wed Joseph Gurwin, a textile manufacturer and philanthropist, the following year, the suit states. Nine years after Gurwin died, she moved back to New York in 2018. The lawsuit alleges Phyllis 'was renowned for her exacting and highly developed taste and sophistication.' Her Southampton home — a sprawling 2.3-acre beachfront property — is now up for sale for more than $34 million, property and real estate records show. She also had a 2,500-square-foot Upper East Side apartment, which is now under contract for just under $4 million, the Post reported. Bob Pressman was cut out of his mother's will after years of bickering with his relatives, including his unwillingness to participate in the alleged scheme, a source close to the case told the outlet. 'Bob doesn't get anything for reasons he well knows,' a trust agreement allegedly states. The suit lists Bob as a whistleblower under the New York False Claims Act, meaning he could be entitled to anywhere between 25 and 30 percent of the proceeds recovered. The filing alleges his relatives who were involved in the tax fraud scheme could be liable for more than $50 million worth of taxes and penalties, the Post reported. Phyllis 'successfully recruited' her children — Gene Pressman, Elizabeth Pressman-Neubardt and Nancy Pressman-Dressler — to lie about where she lived after Bob refused to do so, the complaint alleges. The trio in late 2023 helped move their mother into hospice care in Palm Beach 'when she was ill and should not have been traveling' and transferred the Southampton home to a limited liability company, the filing says. That's when they 'all increased the size of their inheritance from Phyllis Pressman because they helped the Estate avoid the New York estate taxes that it was obligated to pay,' the suit alleges. To support allegations that his mother lived in New York residency from 2018 through 2024, the lawsuit claims that Phyllis had her prescriptions filled at a local Southampton pharmacy, regularly called from the landline at the mansion, and had two aides working at the property. Reached by phone on Thursday at her home in Westchester County, Nancy Pressman told The Independent that she had no comment. Elizabeth Pressman, whose phone on Thursday was not accepting messages, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A listed number for Gene Pressman went straight to voicemail; various email addresses for him bounced back as undeliverable. Family feuds over company money have erupted ever since the department store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. In 1999, Bob's sisters, Elizabeth and Nancy, took to court, accusing him of taking $30 million that belonged to them. A judge found that Bob, then the trustee of the business, committed fraud and ordered him to pay his sisters $11.3 million. He denied the allegations and launched an appeal. Barney's declared bankruptcy for a second time in 2019, which led to the shuttering of all its stores. Authentic Brands Group then acquired the retail icon's name and began a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue.
