No surprises in Jeffrey Epstein's social media accounts. Read the rest

UK media moderated its coverage of the country's post-Savile sex abuse scandal, perhaps to maintain cosy establishment relationships and certainly due to Britain's menacing libel laws. American media has few such interests or impediments, and US coverage has sometimes made the difference in exposing a British problem to British audiences. But the delicious and seemingly well-deserved ruin of Prince Andrew needs no foreign encouragement. The Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Prince Andrew is pictured inside paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's £63million mansion of depravity nine years ago... so how did he miss signs of the billionaire's sexual deviance?

• Duke was spotted peering around the door of the billionaire's Manhattan home on December 6, 2010 • The footage of the Duke was taken less than an hour after Epstein left the house with a young blonde woman • Epstein's alleged 'sex slave' Virginia Roberts claims she had sex with the Prince at financier's New York home • Buckingham Palace has denied any wrongdoing on Duke's part and the Queen has showed him her support

The video above is CBS News' coverage of the release. Read the rest

And check out the book she was reading.

This seems bad. Buzzfeed:

Almost 40 minutes before ABC News first reported Epstein’s death on Twitter, someone posted still-unverified details on 4chan, the anonymous message board popular with far-right trolls and white nationalists. “[D]ont ask me how I know, but Epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest. Screencap this,” read the post, which was published at 8:16 a.m. alongside an image of Pepe, the green frog that has become a mascot for right-wing internet trolls. ... the original poster added more information to the discussion thread, including a detailed breakdown of the procedures allegedly used to resuscitate Epstein, which suggest the poster may have been a first responder, medical worker, or otherwise privy to details about efforts to resuscitate the disgraced financier.

The Fire Department of New York apparently suspects one of their own and is "reviewing" the posting, but insists it is not "investigating" it. Read the rest

From an unbylined, slapdash item at CBS News:

CBS News has learned that the morning of Jeffrey Epstein's death there was shouting and shrieking from his jail cell. Guards attempted to revive him while saying "breathe, Epstein, breathe."

The rest of the story is all recap, offering no clarification at all about who was shrieking or even to make clear that it was after Epstein died. The only other new detail in it is that his brother was summoned to identify his body.

This is obviously going to be everywhere today. Is the suggestion that it was a guard or other jail staffer upon discovering his body? That CBS News chose such an ambiguous headline, allowing that it might have been Epstein shrieking, is the stuff institutional regrets are made of. Read the rest

Jeffrey Epstein is dead.

The convicted sexual predator committed suicide overnight at MCC Manhattan, the federal lockup where he had been held pending trial on federal sex trafficking charges, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

He was on “suicide watch,” but the MCC jail failed, twice, to prevent attempts of suicide. The second time, his attempt to escape justice through death worked.

The Miami Herald has confirmed that accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has committed suicide in jail in Manhattan. Story to come. @MiamiHerald

— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) August 10, 2019

From ABC News:

Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein has died by suicide in his Manhattan jail early Saturday morning, three law enforcement officials told ABC News.

He was being held without bail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a judge said he wouldn't face trial before June 2020.

He's accused of arranging to have sex with girls as young as age 14 in the early 2000s at Epstein's residences in Manhattan and Florida.

The 66-year-old was also hospitalized in July after he was found unresponsive in what appeared to be a possible suicide attempt.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe urged a June trial date, saying there is "a public interest in bringing this case to trial as swiftly as possible." But Epstein's lawyer, Martin Weinberg, said the case is far from "ordinary," adding the defense team won't be ready before Labor Day 2020.

Read the rest

Accountability time.

Prosecutors accuse Epstein of coercing under-18 girls into sexual abuse, and paying victims to recruit others

After Alex Acosta helped Jeffrey Epstein get off the hook in Florida for “soliciting prostitution from a minor,” Epstein is reported to have received a number of odd visits while in detention -- from young women and from powerful men.

One of the men was “James E. Staley, a top JPMorgan Chase executive and one of the highest-ranking figures on Wall Street,” reports the New York Times. Read the rest

On Friday, the Palm Beach sheriff opened an internal affairs investigation into the absurdly lenient handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, after Epstein entered a guilty plea in his prostitution case. Read the rest

A judge has ruled that convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein will stay in detention pending his trial. Read the rest

Government prosecutors just revealed new details about that super suspicious passport —- his photo, different name -- Jeffrey Epstein kept hidden in a safe.. Read the rest

NBC shared this video.

Back in 1992 Trump and Epstein sure seemed to know one another. Since 1992 both men have independently been accused, multiple times, with criminal behavior towards women, many of them minors. Read the rest

Trump Labor Secretary under fire for his previous handling of Jeffrey Epstein case in Florida

Oddly, convicted sex offender didn't ask feds to return his child porn stash

This is not a riddle, but two questions inspired by two very weird stories circulating about financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is in federal custody over charges of trafficking and sexual abuse of young girls. Read the rest

Jennifer Araoz says a recruiter brought her to Jeffrey Epstein when she was 14. Read the rest