Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide last Saturday is that so many people don’t believe they will ever know what really happened.
That’s where things are with our government today.
We simply don’t trust much of what we’re told by government officials.
In fact, we often believe that the government is lying to us on many important issues.
“Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone – and so did Jack Ruby” – JFK Assassination
Lee Harvey Oswald & Jack Ruby
“James Earl Ray acted alone” – Martin Luther King Assassination
“Of course, your drinking water is safe” – Flint, MI
“The suspect appeared to be aiming a weapon at us – and that’s why we shot him 19 times” – Amadou Diallo Killing
“Both buildings collapsed because of the intense heat from the fires that resulted from them being struck by planes” – Twin Towers
“All that was recovered were pieces of weather balloons” – Area 51
“ Of course we landed there. Didn’t you see the pictures?” – The Moon
First Lunar Landing
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Is Epstein Actually Dead?
One of the most interesting theories bouncing around the internet is that Epstein is still alive.
“Not a chance he is dead,” reads a Facebook post by Erik Pearson, whose page also features images of QAnon — which is a group of anti-government conspiracy theorists who support President Donald Trump.
“Since when are DEAD bodies just wheeled out without being covered or in a body bag? And look at how pink he looks. That is not the face of a dead man,” he added.
Still, others have elaborated on this theory – and claim that Epstein is now is the federal government’s witness protection program.
The late (?) Jeffrey Epstein
No way of proving this one way or the other.
Unless Epstein shows up again somewhere else.
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Jeffrey Epstein Was Murdered
This theory started circulating within hours after it was announced that Epstein was dead.
By Saturday night, #EpsteinMurder was trending worldwide.
It picked up even more steam after President Trump re-tweeted a theory that linked Epstein’s death to the Clintons.
Jeffrey Epstein with Donald Trump
The original tweet came from Terrence K. Williams, whose Twitter bio identifies him as an actor and commentator.
“Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH? Yeah right! How does that happen,” Williams tweeted on Saturday. ”#JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he’s dead. I see #TrumpBodyCount trending but we know who did this!”
Williams’ tweet included a video that mentioned another conspiracy theory that suggests that the Clintons were responsible for the death of White House aide Vince Foster, who died by suicide in 1994.
Earlier this week, Trump defended his re-tweets by noting that they originated from “a very highly respected conservative pundit”.
He went to say “He’s a big Trump fan. … He’s a man who has half a million followers, a lot of followers, and he’s respected”.
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Bureaucratic Incompetence or Conspiracy?
One of the reasons that Epstein’s apparent suicide has spawned so many conspiracy theories is that the story emerging from the Manhattan Correctional Center (MCC) is just so hard to believe.
Thus far, that story includes the following unanswered questions:
(1). Why was Epstein taken off suicide watch so soon after an apparent attempt to take his own life?
It’s difficult for many to believe that a man who was thought to have attempted suicide was removed from MCC’s Suicide Watch Unit after just a few days.
The reality, however, is that the vast majority of inmates who end up in that unit are only there for a few days.
So, while it may have raised questions for lots of people, there was really nothing unusual about Epstein being removed from the Suicide Watch Unit – and returned to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) where he was previously being held.
(2). Why was Epstein not placed in a one-man cell with 24/7 monitoring via an in-cell camera?
Although it now seems that this would have been the most prudent thing to do, it appears that MCC’s protocol is to return prisoners to their prior cell after they are released from the Suicide Watch Unit.
In retrospect, that seems like a pretty questionable protocol.
Especially in the case of a prisoner like Epstein who was sharing a cell with a guy who is facing four murder counts.
But in all probability, there was really nothing nefarious about Epstein being returned to his former cell.
(3). Why was Epstein’s cellmate transferred the day before Epstein’s apparent death?
No solid answer has yet been provided to this question.
But if, in fact, Epstein’s “cellie” was transferred to another prison on the Friday before Epstein’s death, that action was very likely set in motion several days prior to it happening.
Moving federal prisoners around is a complicated process – with special buses making the rounds to several different prisons to pick up and drop off prisoners.
Once again, even though this appears to be very suspicious, there might be a reasonable explanation.
If, on the other hand, Epstein’s former “cellie” was simply transferred to another location within MCC, then this looks a lot more suspicious.
Either way, once his cellmate was moved, Epstein should have been assigned another one – or he should have been moved to the other SHU section that has one-man cells with 24/7 in-cell camera coverage.
Why that didn’t happen could either be nefarious or just bureaucratic laxity.
And we may never know the real answer.
(4) Why did the guards not do a visual check on Epstein every 30-minutes as they were supposed to do?
Although this sounds highly suspicious, the reality is that those 30-minute checks rarely happen.
Federal Correctional Officers (COs) AKA guards do not follow the Bureau of Prison (BOP) guidelines on lots of things.
The fact that the two guards assigned to the SHU section where Epstein was housed did not check on him every 30 minutes is, in reality, the norm and not the exception.
Had they actually been checking on him every 30-minutes during the graveyard shift that would have been noteworthy!
The fact that they were sleeping during that time period – and that they falsified their logbooks to indicate otherwise – is, unfortunately, pretty much standard operating procedure in federal prisons.
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We Will Likely Never Be Sure What Really Happened to Epstein
Despite the fact that there are already two investigations underway – one by the BOP Inspector General and one by the FBI – we will likely never be sure what really happened to Jeffrey Epstein.
Did he simply commit suicide – which is very likely what both investigations will conclude?
Jeffrey Epstein
Was he assisted in committing suicide – either via a conspiracy or via bureaucratic incompetence?
Was his suicide faked – and is he still alive?
Was he killed in order to ensure that the identity of others who were involved in his international sex trafficking operation will never be revealed?
All good questions – and ones for which we may never know the real answer.
