June 27, 2023
The Department of Justice Inspector General issued a scathing and very detailed review of the circumstances that lead up to the death of Jeffrey Epstein. Plus, there are new pictures. The new report outlines all kinds of screw ups and misconduct by the Bureau of Prisons New York jail that was housing him and the corrections officers who were supposed to be monitoring him.
Now – I am issuing a warning for this entire video. There is sensitive information and language I’m going to using that may be triggering. If you don’t want to subject yourself to it, I totally understand. But the Department of Justice inspector general thinks there’s a real problem here – so this is a story I have to cover. If you want to read the report for yourself, make sure you subscribe to my news girl news roundup email. I’ll email it to you tonight.
Now let’s talk about the actual report. It’s 128 pages long and I read the whole thing. This video is a little long so if you don’t have time to watch it now – favorite it and come back to it later when you have some time.
I’m going to start with the report’s conclusion. The Inspector General says — despite the screwups and misconduct from the jail and the officers — he concurred with the FBI that none of their actions were criminal. There are also several points in the report where the Inspector General debunks a rumor that’s been floating around that Epstein didn’t commit suicide – he was actually murdered in his cell. The report categorically denies that. Blood toxicology tests did not reveal any medications or illegal substances in Epstein’s system and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy told the IG that there were no defensive wounds on Epstein’s body that would have been consistent with a homicide. The medical examiner said Epstein’s injuries were all consistent with suicide by hanging. Which is how he was discovered in his cell.
But the fact that he was able to take his own life is what the inspector general said was a result of a series of “negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures.”
The IG says Epstein’s death is not an isolated incident. The DOJ has repeatedly identified problems within the Federal Bureau of Prisons system that prevent it from operating a safe and secure environment for inmates.
We’re talking about staffing shortages, lack of proper care for inmates who could be a suicide risk, non-functioning security cameras, management failures and widespread disregard for policies and procedures. All of these things – according to the inspector general — played a role in what happened to Jeffrey Epstein.
The report says when Epstein was first incarcerated in early July 2019 — he was placed in the special housing unit – or SHU — of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York because of his notoriety. SHU inmates are securely separated from the general population and kept in their cells for about 23 hours a day. SHU inmates are supposed to be monitored by prison staff at least twice an hour plus — a lieutenant must conduct a round in the SHU during each shift. Initially Epstein was given a SHU cell mate and passed a psychological assessment. However, by July 23rd he was found in his cell with an orange cloth around his neck. At that point the staff put him on suicide watch but then was taken off by July 30. Then on August 9th – the day he died — Epstein’s cell mate was transferred to another facility, Epstein made an unmonitored phone call, met with his lawyers and by 8 p.m. was safely put back in his cell alive – but alone. By 6:30 a.m. the next morning he was dead.
According to the IG, after Epstein was found, a search of his cell was conducted. Prison guards found he had collected excess prison blankets, linens and clothing. Then it was determined – guards were not monitoring the inmates in the SHU like they were required to. Only one SHU cell search was conducted on August 9 – and that search was of another SHU inmate – not Epstein. In fact, the IG found prison guard count slips and round sheets had been falsified to show that checks had been done of the SHU inmates when in reality *none* were conducted after 4 p.m. on August 9th. On top of that video surveillance of the SHU area for both August 9 and August 10 was only available from one camera due to a malfunction of the jail’s camera system that started on July 29th and no one bothered to fix it. But that one operational camera did show the pathway that would have led to Epstein’s cell so the inspector general says anyone who entered or attempted to enter could be seen. The report found between 10:40 p.m. on August 9 and 6:30 a.m. on August 10th, no one was seen entering the area of Epstein’s cell.
The bottom line – the IG found the combination of all these failures led to Epstein being unmonitored and alone in his cell – giving him the opportunity he needed. The inspector general says the failures deprived Epstein’s numerous victims the ability to seek the justice they deserve. He outlines several recommendations to fix these systemic problems with the Bureau of Prisons and suggests some of the personnel should be disciplined or perhaps fired so this doesn’t happen again.
Read the Inspector General Epstein Report here.
