At Least Eight Staffers Knew Jeffrey Epstein Shouldn’t Have Been Left Alone in Cell: Washington Post

Samuel Allegri
By Samuel Allegri
August 22, 2019US News
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At Least Eight Staffers Knew Jeffrey Epstein Shouldn’t Have Been Left Alone in Cell: Washington Post
Jeffrey Epstein poses for a sex offender mugshot after being charged with procuring a minor for prostitution in Fla., on July 25, 2013. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty Images)

At least eight Bureau of Prisons staffers were aware that there were strict instructions not to leave disgraced financier sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alone in his cell, but the order was seemingly disregarded the day before his suicide, said people that knew about the matter, according to the Washington Post.

Investigators are trying to determine why even though so many prison officials—from low-level officers to supervisors and managers—knew about the instructions, there were many people involved who failed to adhere to them, the people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post, on the condition of anonymity. They didn’t name the eight staffers in question.

Investigators think that at least one of the staffers might have known that Epstein was left alone in his cell before his death and are trying to determine the veracity of the knowledge, the sources told the Washington Post.

The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment to the Washington Post.

Robert Hood, a former warden at the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colo. said, that the situation was “perplexing.”

“If people were given instructions that Epstein should not be left alone, I don’t understand how they were not followed,” he said.

Hood, who has previously served as the Bureau of Prisons’ chief of internal affairs, said: “You’re either on suicide watch or you’re not. If you have any concern at all, you maintain the suicide watch.”

Attorney General William Barr said that there has been no evidence discovered that undercuts the medical examiner’s conclusion that Epstein committed suicide.

“I have seen nothing that undercuts the finding of the medical examiner that this was a suicide,” Barr told reporters in Texas on Aug. 21. “Epstein’s death, I think we will see, was a suicide.”

“I do think there are some irregularities at the [Metropolitan Correctional Center],” he added. Barr said on Aug. 12 that there were “serious irregularities” at the prison.

NTD Photo
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein in New York City on July 8, 2019. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

“I was appalled, and indeed the whole department was, and, frankly, angry,” Barr said, speaking at an event in New Orleans. He called it a “failure to adequately secure this prisoner.”

“We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation. The FBI and the Office of Inspector General are doing just that,” Barr added.

“We will get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability. But let me assure you this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. The victims deserve justice, and they will get it.”

Barr said on Aug. 19 that they were reassigning the Bureau of Prisons director after Epstein’s death. The warden and two guards who were working at the center had already been reassigned and will face investigation.

According to the CNN, 20 employees at the detention center have been subpoenaed in the probe of Epstein’s suicide.

Barr said on Aug. 21 that the probes by the DOJ, FBI and the department’s inspector general are “well along” but not everything has been smooth.

“A number of the witnesses are not cooperative,” Barr said. “A number of them required having union representatives and lawyers before we could schedule interviews.”

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General Barr attends a farewell ceremony for Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington
U.S. Attorney General William Barr attends a farewell ceremony for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on May 9, 2019. (Reuters/Leah Millis/File Photo)
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