Is it true that in the epstein files, there's an original claim that a former president disemboweled and ate a baby
Executive summary
There is no credible evidence in the released Jeffrey Epstein files, as reported by major outlets, that an “original claim” exists within those documents stating a former president disemboweled and ate a baby; the Department of Justice’s release contains millions of pages that include unverified and sensational allegations submitted to investigators, which news organizations have repeatedly described as unsubstantiated [1] [2]. Internet recycling of a 2009 accusation by Gabriela Rico Jiménez about “cannibalism among the global elite” has amplified conspiratorial readings of the new files, but reputable reporting does not support the lurid phraseology of a president committing infant disembowelment and cannibalism [3] [4].
1. The documents are vast, messy and full of unvetted tips
The Justice Department’s recent release of millions of Epstein-related pages is the largest disclosure to date and includes investigator slide decks, tips, emails, photos and other material; journalists and the DOJ itself have warned that many items are raw, contain unredacted sensitive names and include allegations that were never corroborated or prosecuted [1] [2]. Major news organizations reviewing the cache emphasize that the corpus mixes verified investigative evidence with third‑party tips and claims passed to hotlines—material that should not be read as proof on its face [1] [5].
2. Sensational claims were submitted to investigators, but the DOJ warns they are untrue
Reporting from The Guardian and the BBC highlights that the FBI’s files include tip lists and hotline submissions alleging extreme wrongdoing by public figures, and the Justice Department explicitly noted that “some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims” submitted in the runup to the 2020 election [2] [5]. Newsrooms applying journalistic standards have therefore treated many lurid entries as allegations to be investigated further, not as established facts [2].
3. The Gabriela Rico Jiménez story is real, but distinct from verified DOJ evidence
Gabriela Rico Jiménez’s 2009 on-camera accusation about elite “cannibalism” and her subsequent disappearance resurfaced online after the January 2026 tranche of Epstein records, and several outlets have reported a renewed interest in her case and in some disturbing references in the files [3] [4]. Those reports document the social-media linkage between Jiménez’s decade‑old claim and newly publicized emails and notes in the Epstein material, but they do not establish that the files contain authenticated evidence that a named former president committed the extreme act described in the question [3] [6] [4].
4. No reputable outlet has produced a verified document alleging a president disemboweled and ate a baby
Comprehensive coverage of the release from The New York Times, PBS and other mainstream outlets catalogues allegations and names appearing in the files—ranging from social visits to molestation allegations—but none of these organizations report finding a verified document in the DOJ release that credibly accuses a former president of disemboweling and consuming a baby [1] [7]. Where extremely graphic or outlandish claims have circulated, media accounts treat them as unproven tips or conspiratorial amplification rather than confirmed evidence [2] [5].
5. Why the rumor spreads: attention economics and loose linking of separate items
The circulation of this specific, grotesque claim appears to be a synthesis of three dynamics documented in reporting: a longstanding, sensational unsourced allegation (Jiménez’s 2009 video), newly public raw material in the Epstein files that contains horrific but unvetted submissions, and online actors who bridge the two to generate shock and clicks [3] [6] [1]. Given the DOJ’s caveat and the mainstream press’s reading of the documents as including unsubstantiated claims, a sober reading compels skepticism about viral interpretations that convert rumor into asserted fact [2] [1].
Conclusion: what can responsibly be said today
Based on available reporting from major outlets and the Justice Department’s own framing of the release, it is not true — in the sense of supported by verified documents in the released Epstein files — that there exists an “original claim” within those files that a former president disemboweled and ate a baby; this allegation remains an unsubstantiated, sensational rumor tied to older conspiracy claims and raw, unvetted material in the release [2] [1] [3]. If new, verifiable documents emerge or credible investigative work substantiates such a claim, reputable news organizations are likely to report it with primary-source evidence; until then, the statement should be treated as unproven and driven by amplification rather than documented fact [1] [2].