Mark Epstein, brother of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, has rubbished the Donald Trump administration’s verdict that the late billionaire pedophile took his own life in a New York City jail cell.
The Justice Department and FBI announced on Monday that the fabled Epstein “client list,” supposedly detailing the rich and powerful men to whom he had trafficked underage women for sex, did not exist and that there was no evidence to suggest he died other than by suicide in August 2019, despite myriad claims to the contrary.
The pronouncement was met with disbelief and dismay by the more conspiracy-minded members of Trump’s own MAGA movement, who had hoped to see justice served and had had their hopes of a dramatic outcome raised by statements made by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and others.
Interviewed by Chris Cuomo on NewsNation on Tuesday, Mark Epstein was asked: “Mark, you do not believe what the administration, the Trump administration is putting out about your brother now. Why?”
He answered: “Well, every time they say something or do something to try to quash the fact that he was most likely murdered, they just put their foot further down their mouths.
“I mean, for instance, [FBI Director] Kash Patel in the congressional hearing, you know, he listed his credentials as a prosecutor and other such things and he said that it was a suicide. He said, ‘You know a suicide when you see it.’ You know, that’s basically what he said.”
Mark Epstein continued: “So the question that popped into my mind was, first of all, number one, how many suicides has he seen? Number one. Two, is he a forensic pathologist? Does he have a medical degree? Does he have a certificate that he passed a CPR course? Does he have a Boy Scout merit badge for first aid? What is he basing his expertise on?
“Contrast that to Dr Roman, who was a city pathologist who did the autopsy, she came out of the autopsy and said she couldn’t call it a suicide because it looked too much like a homicide. Dr Michael Baden, who was there on my behalf, who witnessed the autopsy, also concurred that it looked more like a homicide than a suicide.
“Now, was Kash Patel in that autopsy room? No. Was Kash Patel in the prison when they found Jeffrey? No, I don’t think so, and if he was there that raises an even bigger question. When Kash Patel came out with that statement, I laughed at how stupid it was.”
The administration’s attempt to brush the Epstein saga aside came a month after Elon Musk, the president’s estranged former benefactor and adviser, alleged that the reason federal records on Epstein had not been released was because Trump himself is mentioned in them.
The president denied the claim, and Musk subsequently conceded he had gone “too far,” only to call this week’s development then “the final straw.”
Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino drew much of the heat from aggrieved commentators and were branded “deep state traitors” for their trouble, although Bondi had been under intense pressure to provide an update on the case ever since the president issued an executive order demanding that all documents pertaining to it be made available.
Particularly ill-advised, as it turned out, was a White House publicity stunt in February, in which right-wing influencers were presented with binders of Epstein documents that contained information already in the public domain.
Among the prominent conservative pundits reactively sceptical to the government’s revised position on Epstein were Tucker Carlson, Jesse Watters, Laura Loomer, Piers Morgan, and Alex Jones, who filmed himself “crying” in his car with frustration at the trial seemingly going cold.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. In the UK, people having mental health crises can contact the Samaritans at 116 123 or jo@samaritans.org
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