Transcription
What do the newly released Epstein [music] files reveal about the finance seers and accused sex traffickers death? A hotly contested issue, and let me tell you, it comes up again in these [music] files. Let's talk about it. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.
We have been covering all aspects of the recent Jeffrey Epstein files release from the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requiring essentially the Department of Justice to turn over everything they can in their possession regarding the Epstein probe. Now, one of the aspects that I briefly covered the other day in a previous episode of Sidebar, but really couldn't get into further, we didn't have the time, is Epstein's death. Okay, this is a major issue in this saga. What do the files say about his death? Right? Because as you know, this is one of the most talked about, most debated aspects of this entire case. You have those who say when he was found in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10th, 2019, as he was awaiting federal sex trafficking of minors charges, it was clear he died by his own hand versus those who say, doesn't make sense. He was killed. He was a powerful guy, had powerful connections, knew everybody, had all this information. I mentioned before in a previous episode of Sidebar, there was talk that just before he died, his attorneys were maybe trying to reach out to prosecutors to work out a deal. Although I said this before and I'll say it again, I don't think he could have ever worked out a deal where he wouldn't have gotten prison time. I just don't think that was a possibility. Even when you look at those communications, I don't think that was on the table. It seemed prosecutors were like, "Does he want to accept accountability?" Okay, but it wasn't like he was going to reveal information about people and then all of a sudden was going to walk free. Wasn't going to happen. Anyway, put that to the side.
Even though it was officially determined that he died from his own hand, there are people who believe there's something more here. Remember the FBI DOJ memo that was released in July where they said after their initial review of the Epstein materials, quote, "After a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in a cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10th, 2019. This conclusion is consistent with previous findings, including the August 19th, 2019 autopsy findings of the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the November 2019 position of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with the investigation of federal correctional officers responsible for guarding Epstein, and the June 2023 conclusions of DOJ's Office of the Inspector General." And by the way, we'll talk about this more. Essentially, it was he wasn't killed, but there were complete failures of that institution to properly monitor him and make sure he wouldn't do this, right? But two sides nonetheless, despite that, there are those who believe there's more to the story. Always speculation. So, now the question is, with these files being released, what do they say about his death? Let's talk about it.
First, I got to start with this. There have now been released previously unseen photos of Jeffrey Epstein's body after he died. We're talking about 20 images as part of a declassified FBI report from the New York field office. Very disturbing, very graphic. We can't even show you most of the photos, but you can see his body on a stretcher. Medics are attending to him. You see his jail cell in disarray. You see, and this is bad, photos of the injuries to his neck, even like the cracked bone. There's also a close-up shot of his head, visible injury to his neck. I should also note that the noose that Epstein allegedly used, our understanding, has never been identified. There was something that was collected at the scene, but according to the inspector general's report, it wasn't what he used. By the way, there was also details in this files release about his previous suicide attempt where MCC officials said they found him lying in the fetal position in his cell. A report even says this. This is from the files. Quote, "As inmate Epstein was being placed on the stretcher by responding staff, he would open his eyes and observe staff. When staff made eye contact with him, he would hurriedly shut his eyes." And there's even documentation about that. In a July 25th, 2019 email, the names of the sender and the people who received it are redacted, but the subject line references inmate Epstein. And the body of the email reads, quote, "FYI, informed by E/W ops Lieutenant that USMS telephone lieutenants office inquiring about IM Epstein suicide attempt. Later received call from EWOSP number one, indicating that the Daily News was asking questions as well."
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CBS has been on top of this. CBS did a breakdown of what the new files tell us, too. And this is very, very important. According to CBS, investigators looked at the jail surveillance footage from the night of August 9th, so the night before Epstein was reportedly found dead, and they see this orange colored shape moving up a staircase toward the tier where Epstein's cell was. And this is at about 10:39 p.m. Why is that important? Let's remember, it's believed Epstein died before 6:30 a.m. when a correctional officer or CO discovered his body during a breakfast delivery. According to a DOJ Inspector General memorandum of investigation, quote, "The FBI has identified that the only camera in the SHU recording was located above the G tier near the entrance for the 10 South unit. The camera footage had low-quality video and the camera angle only partially shows the SHU, including the SHU officer station and partial view of the stairs leading to the tiers in the SHU. It's a special housing unit. It should be noted due to the quality of the video, the persons on camera cannot be properly identified other than possibly if the person is a male or female." The MCC daily assignment roster shows that on August 9th, 2019, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Correctional officers Tova Noel and Redacted were assigned to work in the SHU. According to the FBI, quote, "10:39, a flash of orange looks to be going up the Lier stairs. Could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that tier." But according to CBS, that wasn't previously reported by authorities, including from then Attorney General Bill Barr. So, no one mentioned someone entering the area where Epstein was being housed the night of his death or before his death. They also note how former deputy FBI director Dan Bonino told Fox News, "There's video clear as day. He's the only person in there and the only person coming out. You can see it."
But then you go to this, right? 10:41. A person walks from direction of either Lier or exit to laundry room back to desk area can then see papers moving around at the desk area. Now the Office of the Inspector General and the FBI, they both analyzed the video and it seems based on this memo according to CBS at least, they arrived at slightly different conclusions. Okay, because the OIG report, the Office of the Inspector General report says, quote, "At 10:39, a flash of orange can be seen going up the stairs of L, the upper tier. Inmates are currently on lockdown. It is possible someone is carrying inmate linen or bedding up the stairs." So, in other words, not an inmate, right, but maybe a correctional officer. See the difference? And according to the IG report released in June of 2023, at approximately 10:39 p.m., an unidentified CO appeared to walk up the Lier stairway and then reappeared within view of the camera at 10:41 p.m. This is believed to be the last time anyone entered Lier before approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 10th. Between approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 9th and just before 6:30 a.m. on August 10th, the OIG did not observe on the recorded video any CO or other individual enter any of the SHU tiers, which is consistent with CO Tovan Noel and material handler Michael Thomas' admissions to the OIG that the SHU rounds and counts were not conducted during that time frame. So again, if we're understanding this correctly, they say could be a correctional officer, right? And this is significant because CBS previously reported, they looked into this and I believe we even did a separate sidebar on this too, where the video analysts that looked at this said the movement was actually more consistent with an inmate. So someone actually wearing an orange prison uniform, that's what the orange blur looks like, rather than a CEO carrying some orange clothing or bedding. And also that it would be unusual a CO would be escorting an inmate at that time too. You see why this is weird? And what complicates this, of course, is that there was only one camera that was recording that night and you really couldn't see Epstein's unit or the tier. The angle was so bad. The FBI report included diagrams and photos showing how bad the angles were. So, could you definitively say that it's impossible that someone went in there that night?
The two correctional officers at the center of what happened? Okay. To Noel and Git Bonhome, this is according to reporting from CBS. Noel told officials that Bonhomem had been working several shifts in a row, fell asleep from approximately 10 p.m. until he went home at midnight. It's a problem. And that's when another officer came on duty, Michael Thomas. Now, he's the one who would end up finding Epstein's body in the jail cell. Noel also stayed on for another shift. So, she and Thomas were there overnight. But investigators found that they failed to complete the proper inmate counts between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. as well as the mandatory wellness checks that they were supposed to be doing on Epstein, especially considering what had happened previously. There was this, you know, suicide attempt. And there were also questions about a change in the recorded number of inmates in the SHU too, which evidently went from 73 to 72 sometime in the middle of the night. Noel told officials that she was probably mistaken on the count and a transcript of a sworn statement from Michael Thomas was released in the latest trunch of files as well and the statement was taken 2 years after Epstein died. It's a pretty significant amount of time so that could affect you know obviously memory or recall but part of the transcript reads and what did you do? I ripped him down and I yelled for help and I started for CPR. So how did you rip him down? Yeah, I just ripped the sheet down. So you ripped the sheet first. Mhm. And then did you like pick him up or did you just throw him on the floor? Yeah. Yeah. Or did he fall on the floor? Kind of just like got him to the floor. I ripped it off like that and then he dropped of course and then I laid him onto the ground. And when he was questioned about the noose, Thomas said, "I don't recall taking the noose off. I really don't. I don't recall taking the thing from around his neck." Noel had told officials that she remained standing at the entrance to the cell, saw Thomas lower Epstein to the floor, didn't see a noose around his neck, and the new documents also show that the chief medical examiner's office in New York City reviewed the jail surveillance footage 6 days after Epstein died, concluded the video was too blurry to identify anyone, but then hours later, they announced that they had determined that Epstein had taken his own life.
So, in the end, the Department of Justice found that while there had been very serious oversightes and failures involving missing video evidence and staff misconduct, there was no evidence that Epstein was killed. There was no evidence that Epstein died as a result of any outside actors. And by the way, Thomas and Noel were at one point charged with falsifying records, but those charges were dropped in exchange for their cooperating sworn testimony about what they say happened.
Okay, how about this from the Epstein files release? Okay. Newly released reports show that a decoy was used when officials were removing the body from the prison. Yeah. So, there is this report on an interview with a redacted food services employee and it reads, quote, "Due to the large news media presence outside the MCC, a male OC official called and said he would be arriving at the loading dock with a black vehicle. In order to thwart the media, redacted, redacted, and redacted, used boxes and sheets to create what appeared to be a human body, which was put into the white OCME vehicle, which the press followed, allowing the black vehicle to depart unnoticed with Epstein's body." Not likely a usual tactic when someone dies inside the detention center, which obviously is just going to fuel more speculation, but there is a lot more interesting material too regarding Epste's death in here, too, with the files released.
So, for example, this the Bureau of Prison Psychology Services released a post suicide watch report after Epstein reportedly tried to hurt himself in July. This is weeks before guard said that they found him dead in his cell. I think this is really interesting. It says in part, quote, "Protective factors." Mr. Epstein adamantly denied current suicidal ideation or intent or a history of suicide attempts. He stated, "I have no interest in killing myself." He explained although his situation is quote not perfect due to his being incarcerated, he noted he has lots to do for his legal case. He described having a quote wonderful life to include interactions with interesting people and projects. He said it would be crazy to take his life. He furthered I would not do that to myself. He denied feelings of hopelessness, although did report being depressed and unhappy about his current legal situation. He previously denied a history of child abuse. He reported he is sleeping adequately now that he is no longer in the SHU. He appeared future oriented as he endorsed an interest in being housed in general population.
Now there's another entry from the next day that reads inmate Epstein did reveal he is unhappy with his current confinement in special housing SHU as he considers it quote a punishment cell. He said he finds the restrictions up there unfair as he has not done anything wrong. Inmate Epstein stated he feels it is dangerous in the SHU. He cannot sleep well up there due to noise from the other inmates. It smells and it is difficult for him to work on his legal case up there. He stated he has not received the phone calls he was promised, nor has he been able to receive recreation. It was explained to him that he spends the entire day in the attorney conference room and it is likely that he's missed the times when staff members have attempted to give him phone calls and recreation. Inmate Epstein also reported complaints about the attorney conference room, stating they do not take him to the bathroom frequently enough. Inmate Epstein adamantly denied any suicidality at this time, stating, "I am too vested in my case to fight it. I have a life and I want to go back to living my life." He denied any acute symptoms at this time. So, for those who believe, there's something more here that's going to add fuel, right?
However, got to mention this. There was also an interview that was seemingly conducted by the FBI of a Bureau of Prisons captain. Okay, this report dated August 15th, 2019. So, this is after Epstein died. It says in part, quote, "Redacted advised that Epstein preferred not to have a cellmate and engaged in manipulative behavior to avoid having one, including requesting to see a psychologist. At Epstein's request, he was interviewed by a psychologist. Following this assessment, Epstein was initially placed on suicide watch. He was later interviewed again and downgraded to psychological observation because he was determined not to have suicidal tendencies. After some time, he was returned to SHU. Began hearing talk that Epstein was trying to get back on suicide watch. Information like this is usually generated from rounds, kites, and monitoring of phone calls and letters." Quote, "Lieutenant was aware that Epstein was required to be housed with a cellmate because approximately one week prior to Epstein's death, informally advised his lieutenants that Epstein was not to be housed alone and emphasize the need to be vigilant about 30 minute checks and unannounced rounds."
This is very interesting because I guess one theory could be, did Epstein try to harm himself? Maybe he didn't actually want to kill himself, but harmed himself in a way to be placed in a different unit away from everybody else. That a possibility. So, not that he was killed, but that he tried to do something to himself. And by the way, what he said to a psychologist, was it the truth? Was it not the truth? We will never know.
How about this? There is an unclassified FBI import form. The title is Mark Epstein. That is Jeffrey Epstein's brother. And it says, "New York Operations Command walk-in complaints administrative matters synopsis. Requesting information on the investigation of his brother's homicide." Mark Epstein has been very adamant before in the media about what he believes happened to his brother and always wanted more answers. So I think it's interesting that you have that. And by the way, speaking of Mark Epstein, found this email with all the names redacted. It is from February of 2023. It's titled Allegation of Murder of Jeffrey Epstein. Quote, "I am a threat intake examiner at the FBI National Threat Operations Center unit where we receive information from the public regarding criminal activity and threats to national security. The following information is being forwarded for your situational awareness and any action deemed appropriate. On February 22nd, 2023, at 6:24 p.m. Eastern time, Mark Epstein submitted an online tip to the FBI National Threat Operations Center via tips.fbi.gov regarding allegations of murder of Jeffrey Epstein."
There's another document titled Updates to Epstein report in regards to the allegations. Quote, "Epstein was killed by another inmate." And it reads, "Oddional details regarding inmate witnesses. Location of cells, counts, and rounds not conducted. Epstein cell door not opened. Inmate reporting. Epstein seemed desperate. Additional details regarding inmate opinions. Suicide. Noel responsible. Noel responsible because didn't do counts and rounds. In summary of MCCNY staff view that Epstein killed himself. Additional details regarding no counts and rounds. Inmates in proximity saw no one approach Epstein cell door. Noel and Thomas saw no one approach Epstein cell door. Camera footage show no one. FBI found no criminality. Me ruled suicide. Oi found no evidence to contradict those findings."
I also thought this was interesting. So, it seems that the attorney for Epstein's former cellmate wrote to the United States Attorney's Office in November of 2019 says this quote, "As you may be aware, our office represents Nicholas Tartagleon, who was a cellmate with Jeffrey Epstein until Epstein's suicide attempt on July 22nd, 23rd. Based on the information already known to the BOP, I imagine that you are also aware that Mr. Tartagleon has information that would be helpful in rebutting the proposition that Epstein was murdered and will support the conclusion that Epstein was suicidal. Some of this information may be corroborated. Similarly, Mr. Tartagleó also has information about the facility and the conduct of the staff at or around the time of the attempted suicide and albeit to a lesser degree conduct around the time of Epstein's actual suicide." By the way, that guy Tartagleó ended up being sentenced to life in prison for killing four men.
Also, I got to mention this. 2 days before Epstein died, he updated his will. It was all detailed in a trust document. We've talked about this before on sidebar, but it was signed by his attorney. It was signed by his accountant, by the way, the attorney was to get $50 million. His accountant $25 million. The real interesting part though, and again, we discussed this on a previous sidebar, is what he planned to leave his apparent girlfriend, his secret girlfriend, Karina Schuliaak. Quote, "To Karina Schuliaak if she survives me $50 million. In addition, the trustees are directed to purchase an annuity for the benefit of Karina Schuliaak in the amount of $50 million." So that's the headline, $100 million dedicated to her. There's also another section list the specific properties that would go to her. "All of my interest, Zoro Ranch, New Mexico. All of my interest, the island known as Little St. James. All of my interest, the island known as Great St. James. All of my interest, 22 Avenue, Faulk, Paris. All of my interest, 358 El Brillow Way, Palm Beach. All of my interest, 9 East 71st Street, New York." He also wanted to apparently give her a 33 karat diamond ring in contemplation of marriage. He also apparently spoke to her for 20 minutes in an unrecorded call the night before he died. By the way, Mlane Maxwell and Epstein's brother, Mark, they were set to get $10 million each. Mark's share was intended to go to a trust to benefit his children. Bottom line is you do these preparations maybe because you're considering doing something to yourself or there's the alternative. I've seen this come out. He was preparing all this because he thought his life would be in danger. Either way, something to think about. It's interesting.
Bottom line, this is just a sampling of some of the documents, the more notable documents that reference his death in very interesting ways. I will tell you there's other documents in there, legal documents, legal actions that reference it as well. Is this going to put a bow, a conclusion as to what happened to Jeffrey Epstein in 2019? Probably not. But at least it provides more details, more context, and that's all we can ask for, more information. It's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us, and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, [music] Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. We're also up on NBC's Peacock as [music] well. If you want to follow me, X Instagram, I got my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, [music] Monday through Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.