Fact Check: Did Kash Patel Admit to Deleting a Huge Chunk of the Epstein Files?
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks to the media following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House on Nov. 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
January 2, 2026 at 7:00am
The death of Jeffrey Epstein — and what evidence the disgraced financier and sex trafficker might have left behind — looms large over American politics. So large, in fact, that when a claim that FBI Director Kash Patel admitted 2.7 terabytes of data related to Epstein was deleted, the video of the alleged exchange got hundreds of thousands of views on numerous platforms.
There’s just one problem: It never happened.
That hasn’t stopped the video from going viral, however. In the clip, produced by an outlet called The Political Brief, Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan of Indiana is seen questioning Patel before what was supposed to be a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Dec. 19.
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Contributor, Commentary
SummaryMore Biographical InformationRecent PostsContactC. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture
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