A newly released FBI video captures the moment Jeffrey Epstein’s butler attempted to profit from victims’ suffering by selling the pedophile’s “little black book” to an undercover agent, exposing not only greed but also systemic failures that allowed evidence to remain buried for nearly two decades.
Story Highlights
- 46-minute video from 2009 FBI sting shows Alfredo Rodriguez selling Epstein’s contact book in Boca Raton hotel room
- DOJ released over 3 million Epstein files in January 2026, revealing thousands of redaction failures exposing nearly 100 victims’ identities
- Survivor attorneys filed motions to remove DOJ files, citing systematic institutional incompetence in protecting minor victims
- Video evidence reveals Epstein deliberately destroyed copies of the book from his cars and plane, showing consciousness of guilt
FBI Sting Captures Butler’s Betrayal
Alfredo Rodriguez, Jeffrey Epstein’s former butler, met with an undercover FBI agent in a Boca Raton, Florida hotel room in 2009 attempting to sell his employer’s “little black book.” The 46-minute video, sealed for over sixteen years, shows Rodriguez acknowledging he obtained the book containing names and phone numbers from Epstein’s desk. Rodriguez described how Epstein systematically made copies of the incriminating document disappear from his vehicles and private plane, demonstrating the predator’s awareness of the evidence’s damaging nature. This attempted sale represents obstruction of justice and potential evidence tampering during an active investigation into crimes against children.
Massive Document Release Exposes Government Incompetence
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice released more than 3 million documents from the Epstein investigation on January 30, 2026, exceeding its original deadline by over a month. This massive disclosure included the butler sting video and numerous other previously sealed materials. The release should have brought accountability and transparency, values conservatives demanded after years of suspected cover-ups protecting powerful elites. However, the document dump revealed stunning institutional failures that betrayed the very victims it claimed to protect, raising serious questions about whether government agencies can be trusted with sensitive information.
Redaction Failures Constitute Systematic Victim Betrayal
Attorneys Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards, representing Epstein survivors, discovered thousands of redaction failures affecting nearly 100 individual survivors in the released documents. Minor victims’ names appeared more than a dozen times in sensitive materials that should have been properly protected. The attorneys filed court motions demanding the DOJ remove its public website hosting these records, stating institutional incompetence cannot explain the scale and consistency of failures. Their official statement emphasized the DOJ’s sole court-ordered task was simple: redact known victim names before publication. This catastrophic failure demonstrates how bloated government bureaucracies, despite enormous resources, cannot execute even basic protective functions for the most vulnerable Americans.
Evidence Reveals Prosecutorial Inconsistencies
The 2009 sting operation documenting Rodriguez’s attempt to sell evidence stands in stark contrast to the 2007 decision not to prosecute Epstein federally despite clear evidence of his crimes. A prosecutor’s memo from 2007, also released in the 2026 files, outlined multiple possible federal charges including conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The memo described Epstein as an extremely high flight risk and continued danger to the community based on his ongoing enticement of underage girls. Law enforcement had the evidence and the will to conduct elaborate sting operations against peripheral figures like Rodriguez, yet somehow lacked the resolve to aggressively pursue the actual predator.
Broader Implications for Justice and Accountability
The investigation’s expansion demonstrates the global scope of Epstein’s criminal network and potential government complicity in protecting connected elites. On February 4, 2026, the London Metropolitan Police announced a formal investigation into former British government minister Peter Mandelson based on information from the released files. The butler video raises critical questions about why Rodriguez faced minimal consequences for attempting to commercialize evidence of crimes against children. This case exemplifies what Americans already suspected: different standards of justice exist for powerful insiders versus ordinary citizens. Conservatives understand that without equal application of law and aggressive prosecution of those who exploit children, constitutional principles and family values remain under assault.
Butler tries to sell 'little black book'… https://t.co/AntCEhXBN2
— NA404ERROR (@Too_Much_Rum) February 16, 2026
The systematic failures in this investigation, from the initial decision not to prosecute Epstein federally in 2007 through the catastrophic redaction failures in 2026, reveal institutional rot that transcends political administrations. Americans deserve accountability for victims and transparency about which officials allowed this predator to operate with impunity for decades. The evidence was there, the legal framework existed, yet justice remained elusive until Epstein’s death in federal custody prevented full accountability. This video serves as a reminder that sunlight remains the best disinfectant for government corruption and institutional failure.
Sources:
CBS News: Epstein files released by DOJ in 2026
Good Morning America: Video coverage of Epstein files
