Washington, D.C. — In a city already brimming with intrigue, the latest twist in the saga of Jeffrey Epstein’s files sent shockwaves through the Justice Department and beyond this past week. The controversy erupted after James O’Keefe, the polarizing founder of Project Veritas and now head of the O’Keefe Media Group, published a secret video featuring Joseph Schnitt III, a veteran Department of Justice (DOJ) analyst, making explosive claims about the handling of the infamous Epstein files. The fallout has been swift, public, and deeply political, with every side scrambling to control the narrative.
It all began when O’Keefe’s group released footage of Schnitt, 49, speaking candidly during what he believed to be a date with a Georgetown au pair named Skylar. In reality, Skylar was an undercover reporter, and Schnitt’s off-the-cuff remarks were being recorded without his knowledge. According to The Daily Mail, Schnitt, sporting aviator sunglasses and a tight black T-shirt, described himself as a DOJ analyst who would soon serve as acting deputy chief of his office. He boasted of his long tenure—23 years at the DOJ—and his close work with federal law enforcement.
During their two meetings in August 2025, Schnitt made a series of claims that would soon ignite a firestorm. “Yeah, there’s files, for sure, thousands and thousands of pages of files,” he said, referring to the long-rumored Epstein documents. He went on to allege that the DOJ planned to redact the names of “every Republican or conservative person in those files, leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files. Have a very slanted version of it come out, where it’s ‘Look at what’s going on,’ without really seeing any of their bad behavior.” Schnitt also asserted that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice, had been transferred to a minimum-security prison in violation of Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy, implying she was being offered a deal to “keep her mouth shut.”
But perhaps most eyebrow-raising were Schnitt’s comments about internal DOJ and FBI politics. He described Attorney General Pam Bondi as “just a yes person” and spoke of conflict with FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who, according to Schnitt, was pushing for the full release of the Epstein files. “Bondi wants whatever Trump wants. She’s just a yes person,” Schnitt was recorded saying.
The video’s publication on September 5, 2025, sent ripples through Washington, as politicians, journalists, and the public pored over the footage and debated its implications. For Schnitt, who lives a quiet suburban life in northern Virginia, the sudden notoriety was a stark contrast to his otherwise private existence. Public records cited by The Daily Mail show Schnitt as a registered Republican, a long-serving analyst in the DOJ’s Office of Enforcement Operations, and a man with little social media presence. On the day the story broke, reporters noted he returned home “looking somewhat glum,” declining to speak further about the incident.
As the story gained traction, the Justice Department moved quickly to distance itself from Schnitt’s remarks. In a rare move, the DOJ posted an unedited iPhone screenshot of an email from Schnitt to his superior, in which Schnitt explained the context of the recorded meeting. “I met a woman named Skylar on Hinge, a dating app, in July 2025, her profile is no longer findable. We had two dates (August 4 and August 16). She claimed to be an au pair in Georgetown. She gave no clues that she was a reporter or recording our dates,” Schnitt wrote. He insisted, “The comments I made were my own personal comments on what I’ve learned in the media and not from anything I’ve done at or learned via work. I have no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Maxwell other than what is reported in the news. I also never divulged anything about what I do at work.”
The DOJ’s official statement was unequivocal: “Joseph Schnitt had no role in the Department’s internal review of Epstein materials,” the department said, adding that his comments “have absolutely zero bearing with reality and reflect a total lack of knowledge of the DOJ’s review process.” The department also asserted its commitment to transparency and compliance with the House Oversight Committee’s requests for Epstein-related documents.
The political reverberations were immediate. President Trump, seizing on the controversy, took to his Truth Social platform to dismiss the Epstein files as “another Democrat HOAX.” In a lengthy post, he wrote, “The now dying Epstein case was only brought back to life by the Radical Left Democrats because they are doing so poorly. The Dems don’t care about the victims, as proven by the fact that they never did before. This is merely another Democrat HOAX, just like Russia, Russia, Russia, and all of the others, in order to deflect and distract from the great success of a Republican President, and the record setting failure of the previous Administration, and the Democrat Party. The Department of Justice has done its job, they have given everything requested of them. It’s time to end the Democrat Epstein Hoax, and give the Republicans credit for the great, even legendary, job that they are doing.”
For their part, DOJ officials and Bondi’s allies pointed to their efforts to comply with congressional oversight and the lack of any new, incriminating information in the files. In fact, earlier this year, Bondi had publicly stated that the “list” of Epstein’s alleged clients was “on her desk,” and right-wing influencers were given binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” at the White House. However, it was later revealed that the information in those binders was already publicly available, fueling further frustration and conspiracy theories among the MAGA base.
The episode is just the latest in the long-running drama surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death, ruled a suicide, sparked widespread speculation of a cover-up to protect powerful individuals. Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking, has repeatedly denied the existence of a so-called “client list” and insisted that former President Bill Clinton never visited Epstein’s infamous “pedophile island.”
Meanwhile, survivors of Epstein’s abuse continue to meet with lawmakers, seeking answers and justice. The recent uproar over Schnitt’s remarks and the DOJ’s handling of the case underscores the deep mistrust and political polarization that continue to surround the Epstein saga. Both sides accuse the other of weaponizing the case for partisan gain, while the truth—buried somewhere in those thousands of pages—remains elusive.
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: the Epstein files, and the shadowy world they represent, are not going away any time soon. The public’s appetite for answers remains undiminished, even as the official story grows ever more complicated.
