By CBS News. The federal investigation into the death of convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was marred by significant lapses, experts told CBS News, including the failure by investigators to interview potential witnesses, properly preserve certain evidence and run basic forensic tests.
Nearly two years passed before investigators interviewed the two key corrections officers on duty the night Epstein died in his cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown New York City, in what was later ruled a suicide, according to court documents. One of those officers was the only person to attest to seeing Epstein hanging by a bedsheet from his bunk.
And details pulled from 90 photos of the cell and other evidence collected in the hours after Epstein’s death — but before FBI agents arrived to process the scene — appear to show a succession of basic oversights, ranging from an absence of evidence markers to items being moved, experts told CBS News.
“The FBI literally has all of the best tools. I mean, spared no expense. They have every tool you can imagine. And they used none of it as far as we can tell,” forensic analyst Nick Barreiro said after reviewing the photos, many of which have never been published. “How are there not way more people pointing out the absurdity of this?”
The images were previously obtained by 60 Minutes. After the recent release of surveillance video from the night Epstein died, which appeared to show details that contradicted official reports, CBS News reviewed them and other documents with several forensic experts. (Read more from “In Cell Where Jeffrey Epstein Died, a Scene of Disarray That Never Underwent Thorough Inspection, Experts Said” HERE)
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Epstein bank records sought by top House Democrat from Jamie Dimon, other CEOs
By CNBC. A top House Democrat asked four major bank CEOs to share a slew of financial records related to Jeffrey Epstein, pushing forward an investigation into the notorious sex predator, after the lawmaker’s effort to subpoena the banks for the documents was blocked by Republicans.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in letters to the CEOs obtained by CNBC, asked how Epstein and his co-conspirators could have conducted a reported $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions “for years without ever being caught.” . . .
The letters came as the Trump administration continues to face pressure — from Democrats and from some of President Donald Trump’s Republican supporters — over its handling of matters related to Epstein.
The wealthy financier and sex offender, who was once a friend of Trump’s, died by suicide while in jail facing federal child sex trafficking charges in 2019.
In his letters, Raskin bluntly asked each CEO if their bank will “help reveal the truth” about Epstein and his co-conspirators, or if they would “choose to be part of the cover-up for this massive, international sex trafficking ring that victimized more than 1,000 women and girls?” (Read more from “Epstein bank records sought by top House Democrat from Jamie Dimon, other CEOs” HERE)
