Jeffrey Epstein pretended to choke himself in a bizarre moment during a rare on-camera appearance before he died.

The pedophile was being interviewed by Steve Bannon and footage of the encounter was released among millions of files recently published by the Department of Justice. 

The two-hour interview appeared to have taken place at Epstein’s New York home on an unknown date.

Epstein hanged himself in prison in New York in August 2019.

The choking incident happened as the two were discussing how Epstein learned about the 2008 financial crash.

The pedophile said he was in solitary confinement in jail in Florida, having ben convicted of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and jailed for 13 months. 

Epstein said prison guards told him ‘Wall Street is crashing,’ and that there was a ‘crisis and some companies are going bankrupt.’

Epstein pretends to choke himself during the interview with Steve Bannon before his death in 2019

He told Bannon: ‘They said it’s all over the papers, we’re all terrified we’re going to lose our life savings. We don’t know anything about money, Mr Epstein can you tell us what’s going on? Am I going to be able to afford my children’s education, am I going to be bankrupts like this company called Lehman Brothers?’

‘And there’s another company on the front page today called Bear Stearns.’

At that point Epstein put his hand around his neck and pretended to choke himself.

He said: ‘Oh no, I said, Why? Because that’s the company I was a partner in, and, in fact, that was a company I had a very large investment in.’

In the interview, Epstein also revealed  a sinister ‘tell’ that revealed he was playing the rich and powerful politicians and celebrities he drew into his orbit, according to a body language expert. 

The footage revealed that Epstein was a ‘smug, controlling and compulsive’ personality who believed he was ‘superior’ to everyone around him, including the world leaders and Nobel Prize winners he mixed with, expert Judi James told the Daily Mail.

‘His most dramatic tell is a “Joker” smile where his upper lip lifts and holds in a symmetric rictus that risks looking sinister,’ she said.

‘Epstein also shows a tendency for power, superiority and control. Phrases like “Let’s start,” “Good question,” and “I’ll get to that later” suggest this desire to control. He even sighs when the interviewer interjects with a question.’

Bill Clinton and Epstein in a photograph released by the Department of Justice in December

Disturbing new images released as part of Friday’s Epstein files showed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor

Clinton, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross in a photograph released as part of the Epstein files

The pedophile’s belief in his own superiority was also signaled by the way he positioned his hands in a ‘power steeple on and off throughout, with the fingertips touching.’

James added: ‘In mid-flight, his enthusiasm for his own words looks obvious. His sense of belief in his own power is verbalized, too. He describes world leaders as popular politicians, not intellectual or great thinkers, suggesting he is smarter.’

At one point in the video, Epstein is asked whether anyone in the world understands the financial system better than him.

After a theatrical pause, he arrogantly replies that no names jump into his head. 

‘When the interview appears to be going out of his control, he raises both hands in a “crowd control” gesture,’ James said.

‘A direct question “Is your money dirty money?” prompts an eyelid stutter to suggest a degree of irritation and, for a moment, there is a glimpse of a harder, less friendly eye expression.’ 

In the interview, Bannon went on: ‘You earned it by advising the worst people in the world that do enormous, bad things, and just to make more money.’

‘Ethics is always a complicated subject.’ Epstein said.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, aged 66, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

The interview appeared to have been filmed in his New York home on an unknown date.

Partway through his interview with Steve Bannon, Epstein changed from a white shirt to a black one and donned different glasses. He was ‘smug and superior,’ according to body language expert Judi James

An undated photograph shows Jeffrey Epstein talking with Steve Bannon

It was released among three million documents about the pedophile and government investigations into him, published by the Department of Justice last week.

The documents shed further light on Epstein’s connections to political and business leaders worldwide, including Bill Clinton, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Sarah Ferguson and former UK Ambassador Lord Mandelson.

Epstein appeared to try to downplay the seriousness of his 2008 conviction for sex crimes.

In the interview, he opposed Bannon’s labeling of him as a ‘class three sexual predator,’ which indicates the most serious threat to public safety.

‘Tier 1, I’m the lowest,’ he said.

‘But a criminal,’ Bannon said, to which Epstein responded: ‘Yes.’

An undated photo released by the House Oversight Committee of Bannon and Epstein

A picture released Friday shows Lord Mandelson, the former UK Ambassador, in his underwear

At one point in the interview, Bannon asked Epstein: ‘Do you think you’re the devil himself?’

‘No, but I do have a good mirror,’ Epstein replied, smiling.

When asked again, he added: ‘I don’t know. Why would you say that?’

‘Because you have all the attributes,’ Bannon said.