AG Barr: Epstein’s death was a ‘perfect storm of screw-ups’

Attorney General William Barr speaks with an Associated Press reporter onboard an aircraft en route to Cleveland, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, during a two-day trip to Ohio and Montana. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)


Attorney General William Barr greets members of the Cleveland FBI field office's SWAT team before boarding an aircraft at Burke Lakefront Airport, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in Cleveland. Barr participated in a roundtable discussion with members of local, state and federal law enforcement, and is en route to Montana, where he is scheduled Friday to address missing and murdered indigenous persons. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

ABOARD A US GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT (AP) — Attorney General William Barr said he initially had his own suspicions about financier Jeffrey Epstein’s death while behind bars at one of the most secure jails in America but came to conclude that his suicide was the result of “a perfect storm of screw-ups.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said his concerns were prompted by the numerous irregularities at the New York jail where Epstein was being held. But he said after the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general continued to investigate, he realized there were a “series” of mistakes made that gave Epstein the chance to take his own life.

“I can understand people who immediately, whose minds went to sort of the worst-case scenario because it was a perfect storm of screw-ups,” Barr told the AP as he flew to Montana for an event.

Barr’s comments come days after two correctional officers who were responsible for guarding the wealthy financier when he died were charged with falsifying prison records. Officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas are accused of sleeping and browsing the internet — shopping for furniture and motorcycles — instead of watching Epstein, who was supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.

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