The brother of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein claimed to the FBI that Epstein was killed in his jail cell because he was about to “name names” and alleged that President Donald Trump “authorized” the murder.
A new batch of Epstein files released by the Justice Department on Tuesday included an online FBI tip Mark Epstein filed in 2023.
“Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in his jail cell. I have reason to believe he was killed because he was about to name names,” Mark wrote. “I believe Presient [sic] Trump authorized is [sic] murder.”
Mark, 71, wrote that the alleged murder took place on Aug. 9, 2019—the day before Epstein, 66, was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell, where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson ruled Epstein’s death a suicide by hanging. Trump—then in his first term—has never been implicated or charged in any wrongdoing related to Epstein’s death.
But Mark Epstein has long claimed that his well-connected elder brother was killed.
“Everybody who sees all the information, no one believes it was a suicide. So in that case, then it was a murder,” Mark Epstein told the Daily Beast on Tuesday. “And if it was a murder, who would have the ability to orchestrate this and have it covered up?”
“Who would they be protecting, and who would have the ability or the authority to orchestrate this in a federal jail?” Mark asked.
“In the last six years, people have thrown all kinds of names at me—the Clintons, Leon Black, Mossad—all these different potential murderers. But who, out of them, would have the ability to have the DOJ cover this up?”
Mark, a real estate developer, declined to comment directly on his FBI tip, which he submitted while Joe Biden was in office, but noted that the FBI never contacted him about it.
“I don’t want anyone to think I’m just a brother who doesn’t want to believe his brother committed suicide,” Mark told the Daily Beast. “I fully believed it until the autopsy was done.”
Jeffrey Epstein’s autopsy was conducted by Dr. Kristin Roman, a New York City medical examiner, and was observed by Dr. Michael Baden, a renowned pathologist hired by Mark. At first, Roman listed the manner of death as “pending.” Days later, Sampson said she had reviewed additional evidence and changed the ruling to suicide, according to CBS News.
Baden then disputed the official finding, saying that injuries found on Epstein’s body, including a broken bone in his neck, were “extremely unusual in suicidal hangings” and more consistent with “homicidal strangulation.”
A series of security lapses at the jail where Epstein was held have also added fuel to claims that the disgraced financier was murdered.
The batch of files released on Tuesday came with a warning from the DOJ that some documents “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.”
“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the DOJ wrote on X.
Mark submitted his FBI tip on Feb. 23, 2023—after Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election. The Daily Beast has sought comment from the DOJ.
When reached for comment, the White House referred the Daily Beast to an X post from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“There has been lots of sensationalism and even outright lies these past few days about the ‘Epstein Files,’” Blanche wrote on Tuesday evening. “But let’s separate fact from fiction. Document production is just that. We produce documents, and sometimes this can result in releasing fake or false documents because they simply are in our possession, because the law requires this.”
Blanche’s post came after the latest drop of Epstein files included an allegation of rape against Trump, as well as a purported letter from Epstein to a fellow child sex offender claiming the president shared their love of “young, nubile girls.” The DOJ later released a statement that the FBI had concluded Epstein’s alleged jailhouse letter was a “fake.”
The FBI declined to comment when reached by the Daily Beast.
