nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com

The dump of millions of documents has fueled a new wave of speculation, A.I.-generated hoaxes and foreign disinformation.

The release of an enormous cache of files about the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein might have been expected to quell conspiracy theories about his crimes and the government’s knowledge of them. Instead, it is spawning a generation of new ones.

Conspiracy theorists, foreign influence operatives and trolls armed with artificial intelligence are seizing on the millions of haphazardly redacted materials, released last month, to cobble together new, speculative stories.

One debunked claim, concocted using emails and receipts, suggested that Mr. Epstein was alive and playing video games in Israel. (He died by what the authorities said was suicide in 2019.)

A series of social media posts that emanated from China tried to connect the Dalai Lama with Mr. Epstein, based on emails in which Mr. Epstein discussed attempts to set up dinner with the exiled Buddhist leader. In a statement, the Dalai Lama’s office said it was “unequivocally” untrue that the two had ever met or agreed to interact.

. . .

Usually, conspiracy theories feed on an absence of information, not a glut. But the Justice Department’s release of more than three million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images has done little to smother baseless speculation or fabrication.

MBFC
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  • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
    4·
    12 hours ago

    When was Epstein’s account was still playing video games after his death conspiracy debunked?

    And when was the email announcing his death before he died debunked?

    • breakfastmtn@lemmy.caOP
      2·
      8 hours ago

      The case of the posthumous video games:

      https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/epstein-fortnite/

      The official @FortniteStatus X account, responding to another user, posted (archived) on Feb. 6 that a user changed their name to littlestjeff1 after the name surfaced in the Epstein files, saying in part, “Hey Official Fortnite here - this was a ruse by a Fortnite player. A few days ago, an existing Fortnite account owner changed their username from something totally unrelated to littlestjeff1, following the revelation of littlestjeff1 as a name on YouTube.”

      The post also said none of Epstein’s email addresses listed in the public-facing case files exist in the game’s account system.

      The case of the day-before-email:

      https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/02/10/epstein-press-release-aug-10/

      From a DOJ spokesperson:

      Official statements regarding the death of Jeffrey Epstein were edited and circulated over several email chains within the Southern District of New York beginning August 10, 2019. While initial drafts of the statement list the previous date, this was merely an unfortunate typo that was later updated to reflect the correct date before being publicized. Any suggestion that the Department drafted a statement in advance of Jeffrey Epstein’s death is false.

      Also:

      Searches for the Aug. 10 news release revealed correspondence between FBI staff on Aug. 10 about what appeared to be the finished news release that Biase sent. Searches of the DOJ’s database did not reveal records of DOJ, U.S. attorney’s office or FBI staff discussing the versions of the news release dated Aug. 9, suggesting it wasn’t circulated internally or externally in the DOJ before Epstein’s death.

      • ultranaut@lemmy.world
        2·
        10 hours ago

        Another one I saw mentioned by the NYT is his missing tattoo. Epstein apparently testified in a deposition that he had a tattoo of barbed wire on his upper arm, except it is not visible in pictures of his corpse. Not sure what to make of that but it’s odd and hasn’t been explained yet.