Top U.S. lawmaker demands answers in Jeffrey Epstein's death

[snoop1130]

Top U.S. lawmaker demands answers in Jeffrey Epstein's death

 

FILE PHOTO: Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler speaks in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

(Reuters) - A top U.S. lawmaker joined the chorus of officials demanding answers from the Bureau of Prisons over the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein in federal custody.

 

The chairman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Democrat Jerrold Nadler, sent a scathing letter on Monday to the acting director of federal prisons stating that the “competency and rigor of our criminal justice system has been marred.”

 

A representative for the Bureau of Prisons and acting director Hugh Hurwitz were not immediately available to comment early on Tuesday.

 

Epstein was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he was found dead on Saturday, having apparently hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan.

 

The 66-year-old financier had been on suicide watch, but apparently the watch was lifted. According to the New York Times, several high-ranking prison officials, including the prison’s chief psychologist, would have to approve lifting it.

 

The prison was also criticized for being understaffed and for not performing regular checks on Epstein, according to an official who was not authorized to speak on the matter.

 

Epstein was arrested on July 6 and pleaded not guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking involving underage girls as young as 14.

 

Nadler’s letter echoes comments from U.S. Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, who on Monday criticized “serious irregularities” at the federal prison, and said that the sex-trafficking investigation would continue.

 

“Any co-conspirators should not rest easy,” Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official, said at an event in New Orleans.

 

Epstein was already a registered sex offender after pleading guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of unlawfully paying a teenage girl for sex. Before his conviction, he had counted the rich and powerful, including U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, among his associates.

 

Nadler said if the allegations of mistakes made at the prison were true, it would demonstrate “severe miscarriages of or deficiencies in inmate protocol and has allowed the deceased to ultimately evade facing justice.”

 

Nadler and other lawmakers asked for answers ranging from the prison’s suicide-prevention policies to information on the guards on duty and whether video cameras were in use.

 

It asks that the answers be provided by Aug. 21 and adds that it is imperative that his committee, which oversees the Department of Justice receive answers.

 

Barr said on Saturday that he had asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate Epstein’s death.

 

In his remarks on Monday at the Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police’s National Biennial Conference, Barr said the criminal case against Epstein was personally important to him and that his death denied his victims the chance to confront Epstein in a courtroom.

 

“I was appalled - and indeed the whole department was - and frankly angry to learn of the MCC’s failure to adequately secure this prisoner,” Barr said. “We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.”

 

Barr did not say what those irregularities were.

 

It was not clear why Epstein was taken off the suicide watch. He was in a cell by himself when his body was found.

 

At MCC, two jail guards are required to make separate checks on all prisoners every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed on the night of Epstein’s death, according to an official who was not authorized to speak on the matter. In addition, guards are required to make another check every 15 minutes on prisoners who are on suicide watch.

 

The New York Times, citing prison and law-enforcement officials, reported that one of the two people guarding Epstein was not a full-fledged corrections officer and neither guard had checked on him for several hours before he was discovered.

 

The New York City medical examiner said that an autopsy had been completed on Epstein on Sunday but that a determination on the cause of death was still pending.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-13

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[quandow]

"Apparent" suicide just about says it all.

[animalmagic]

[Chomper Higgot]

“Barr said the criminal case against Epstein was personally important to him”

 

Important enough for him to see grounds to recuse himself from Epstein’s case and then 24 hours later discover those grounds had evaporated and then reversing his recusal.

 

For some reason Barr voluntarily waded neck deep into this case he needs to be able to provide a convincing explanation of why he did so.

 

He needs now to once again recuse himself, he has zero credibility of being at all impartial.

[malibukid]

he slipped in the shower

[Brickbat]

1% worldwide control the 99% through Information , which forms Perception which in turn creates Behaviour.

Edison was wrong when he said 95% of people don’t think. 

 

This too will wash away.....crooks rule.

 

[Benmart]

4 hours ago, animalmagic said:

I find no humour in the death, misery and misfortune of others. Those that do are free to advertise themselves for what they are.

[Pedrogaz]

Epstein is the man who knew too much. He has the goods on tens of powerful influential folk. It is inconceivable that he committed suicide especially after saying someone was trying to kill him. 

 

It reminds me of the property tycoon who knew where all the bodies were buried here in Thailand....he committed 'suicide' in police custody using a pair of socks and hung himself off door hinges when the security cameras were usefully turned off. 

 

This is like JFK's murder...and 9/11...we will never know the truth. What is interesting here is that the number of people that believe the official narrative is at an all time low. Reportedly, only 15% of Americans (the most gullible people in the world) believe Epstein committed suicide. 

[usviphotography]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

“Barr said the criminal case against Epstein was personally important to him”

 

Important enough for him to see grounds to recuse himself from Epstein’s case and then 24 hours later discover those grounds had evaporated and then reversing his recusal.

 

For some reason Barr voluntarily waded neck deep into this case he needs to be able to provide a convincing explanation of why he did so.

 

He needs now to once again recuse himself, he has zero credibility of being at all impartial.

Most of us who were concerned about the Epstein case were actually glad he reversed his recusal, and I imagine the loud uproar when he tried to weasel his way out of it had something to do with his decision to reverse course. If Barr recuses, then there is pretty much no accountability at all, which is exactly what the Depp State would want. By forcing him to stay on, we at least got some measure of accountability. 

 

But the fundamental problem here is that the Epstein Case is really an Intelligence/Military issue and needs Intelligence/Military methods. Since Intelligence is unaccountable and probably compromised, that leaves us with a whole new problem. I said from the get go the only way we'd got to the bottom of this is if Trump appointed some sort of special, Elliot Ness style, "Untouchables" task force, preferably drawn from the mid to lower tier officer ranks of the military and simply grant them plenary power to do whatever it takes to get the job done. 

 

Take the current problem- Ghislaine Maxwell. We need to get our hands on her before they kill her. The Justice Dept is utterly unsuited for such a task. They have no mechanism to snatch people up from foreign countries and render them back to the states. The only tools they have to do that are slow and cumbersome. She'll be dead long before that process gets anywhere close to a resolution. Justice is simply not the proper tool for this task. 

[Krataiboy]

How Jeffrey Epstein died and by whose hand is ultimately less important than how he lived. 

 

The investigation into his bizarre death must not be allowed to divert attention from the ultimately more important task of identifying and prosecuting those who willingly became part of his web of vice, corruption and criminality.

 

A major priority must be to track down Ghislaine Maxwell, allegedly procurer and groomer of the often-underage girls Epstein provided as sex toys for the international elite. The victims of this duo's shared depravity have already waited too long for justice.

 

 

 

[Nigel Garvie]

2 hours ago, usviphotography said:

Most of us who were concerned about the Epstein case were actually glad he reversed his recusal, and I imagine the loud uproar when he tried to weasel his way out of it had something to do with his decision to reverse course. If Barr recuses, then there is pretty much no accountability at all, which is exactly what the Depp State would want. By forcing him to stay on, we at least got some measure of accountability. 

 

But the fundamental problem here is that the Epstein Case is really an Intelligence/Military issue and needs Intelligence/Military methods. Since Intelligence is unaccountable and probably compromised, that leaves us with a whole new problem. I said from the get go the only way we'd got to the bottom of this is if Trump appointed some sort of special, Elliot Ness style, "Untouchables" task force, preferably drawn from the mid to lower tier officer ranks of the military and simply grant them plenary power to do whatever it takes to get the job done. 

 

Take the current problem- Ghislaine Maxwell. We need to get our hands on her before they kill her. The Justice Dept is utterly unsuited for such a task. They have no mechanism to snatch people up from foreign countries and render them back to the states. The only tools they have to do that are slow and cumbersome. She'll be dead long before that process gets anywhere close to a resolution. Justice is simply not the proper tool for this task. 

She may well be dead already, and there may be others who also know too much.

As for Barr, the saying "The buck stops at the top" should be reversed. A couple of junior prison officers have been sent home, Barr will do everything to ensure that the buck stops there. Trump's ability to pick the scum of humanity for his team, is a nightmare for America.

[bristolboy]

And William Barr, as the Attorney General, the cabinet officer in charge of the Federal Prison system, is clearly complicit in this, as the person who chose him for the post.

[canuckamuck]

William Barr's dad was headmaster of Dalton school in New York, He hired the totally unqualified Epstein and there was many rumors about that decision, it was referred to as the Epstein-Barr problem. When Dalton was removed, Epstein was fired directly after, citing incompetence. Epstein was rumored to spend his time hovering about the teenage girls. So William Barr has been associated with Epstein for a very long time. Very likely he was one of the many that needed Epstein to be silenced.

[Chomper Higgot]

21 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

William Barr's dad was headmaster of Dalton school in New York, He hired the totally unqualified Epstein and there was many rumors about that decision, it was referred to as the Epstein-Barr problem. When Dalton was removed, Epstein was fired directly after, citing incompetence. Epstein was rumored to spend his time hovering about the teenage girls. So William Barr has been associated with Epstein for a very long time. Very likely he was one of the many that needed Epstein to be silenced.

Amongst the reason’s why Barr needs to recuse himself (again).

[canuckamuck]

43 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Amongst the reason’s why Barr needs to recuse himself (again).

I do hate to agree with you, but yes.

[Chomper Higgot]

9 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

I do hate to agree with you, but yes.

I thought exactly that as I gave you a like.

[sammieuk1]

Cant wait for the 300+ British names to start denying everything like the first guilty one has already ????

[Nigel Garvie]

3 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

William Barr's dad was headmaster of Dalton school in New York, He hired the totally unqualified Epstein and there was many rumors about that decision, it was referred to as the Epstein-Barr problem. When Dalton was removed, Epstein was fired directly after, citing incompetence. Epstein was rumored to spend his time hovering about the teenage girls. So William Barr has been associated with Epstein for a very long time. Very likely he was one of the many that needed Epstein to be silenced.

I had a grim chuckle at your "Epstein-Barr problem".  Epstein-Barr - as I assume you know - is the name of the virus that causes glandular fever. Trump and large parts of the GOP are indeed a foul virus that has poisoned US politics. Many senior Dem politicians are corrupt also. 

[ratcatcher]

6 hours ago, Benmart said:

I find no humour in the death, misery and misfortune of others.

Have you stopped to think of the misery and misfortune this creature brought upon dozens if not hundreds of young women and children. The sigh of relief from some of the most powerful figures in the world, must have been audible, upon the news of Epstein's "Suicide". I could not care less that he's dead but it's too bad he was unable to testify, and most people can guess why.

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, usviphotography said:

If Barr recuses, then there is pretty much no accountability at all

Wrong.

As was the case when AG Sessions recused himself from the Mueller investigation, Barr's recusal would have supervision of the DOJ transfer to Republican majority Senate-approved Deputy AG Jeffrey Adam Rosen.

As we've already witnessed with Barr, he's capable of deception in federal investigations such as the Mueller Report as AG to the extent that he'll protect Trump from anything legally adverse. Transparency is far less likely under Barr.

[Srikcir]

On 8/13/2019 at 5:49 PM, snoop1130 said:

“serious irregularities”

In the case of a serious potential suicide attempt protocol requires a cellmate at all times. Epstein was assigned such a suicide watcher. But twenty-fours hours before the "surprise" Epstein suicide, the cellmate was removed from the cell, leaving Epstein alone.

This degree for breach of protocol that is intended to prevent a prisoner's death doesn't happen without major prison leadership approval. It suggests a political intervention of protocol. By the way the Bureau of Prisons falls under the supervision of DOJ.

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.