Feds fight back as Epstein death conspiracy theories swirl

NEW YORK — At another time in history, the indictment of two jail guards responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself might have served as an emphatic rebuttal to suspicions that the wealthy sex offender was actually murdered. Social media buzzed with “Epstein didn’t kill himself” memes, fueled by the financier’s past associations with Britain’s Prince Andrew and U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. At a news conference Thursday, lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents several women who say they were sexually abused by Epstein, said there remains quite a few “suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.” Dr. Michael Baden, the forensic pathologist hired by Epstein’s family to observe his autopsy, also remains incredulous, saying he wanted to hear from the guards before deciding whether it was suicide or homicide. At a prison oversight hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy said drywall, Christmas ornaments and Epstein were “three things that don’t hang themselves.” “That’s what the American people think, and they deserve some answers,” the Louisiana Republican said. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, the new director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said during that oversight hearing that Epstein’s death was “a black eye on the entire Bureau of Prisons.” But in an exchange with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, she reiterated that it was a suicide.