Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Mega Edition: Bill Barr And The Epstein Related Deposition Given To Congress (Part 1-4) (8/8/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:02Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. So we have the Bill Barr transcript from
- 0:08Speaker 1: his deposition that he gave to the committee when he
- 0:12Speaker 1: sat down for a talk a few weeks ago. So
- 0:15Speaker 1: in this episode, we're going to begin taking a look
- 0:18Speaker 1: at that transcript and at what Bill Barr had to
- 0:21Speaker 1: say during this interrogation, if you want to call it that.
- 0:26Speaker 1: So obviously Bill Barr is going to be the one
- 0:28Speaker 1: answering the questions, and we have a lot of redactions here,
- 0:31Speaker 1: so if we don't have a name for the person
- 0:34Speaker 1: asking the question, I'll say redacted, and then I'll ask
- 0:37Speaker 1: the question, and then obviously the answers are from Bill
- 0:41Speaker 1: Darth Barr, unless, of course, something changes, and if it does,
- 0:46Speaker 1: I'll make sure I let you know as we're going
- 0:48Speaker 1: through this. All right, So we're going to start with
- 0:51Speaker 1: the examination and we're going to bypass them, swearing them
- 0:54Speaker 1: in by redacted. So the person asking the questions is
- 0:59Speaker 1: redact question. Very briefly, we want to go through your
- 1:03Speaker 1: background and the only two experiences that I think are
- 1:06Speaker 1: relevant today. Where did you attend undergrad in what year
- 1:09Speaker 1: did you graduate? Barr graduated Columbia College in seventy one.
- 1:15Speaker 1: I got my master's from Columbia in seventy three, went
- 1:17Speaker 1: to law school at GW here in Washington at night,
- 1:20Speaker 1: and graduated in nineteen seventy seven. Question, thank you. Answer?
- 1:25Speaker 1: During that time I worked at CIA. Question and then
- 1:29Speaker 1: President HW Bush appointed you to be United States Attorney
- 1:32Speaker 1: General from ninety one to ninety three? Is that correct? Barr? Yes?
- 1:37Speaker 1: I was in the department at the start of his
- 1:39Speaker 1: administration and he ultimately appointed me attorney general. Question and
- 1:43Speaker 1: then President Trump appointed you attorney general in February of
- 1:47Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, and then you left in December of twenty
- 1:50Speaker 1: twenty correct answer, right, I was confirmed in February of
- 1:55Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. Question were you acting prior to your confirmation? Answer?
- 2:00Speaker 1: No question. Moving on to the topic at hand, just
- 2:04Speaker 1: some preliminary questions. Have you ever met mister Epstein? Answer?
- 2:08Speaker 1: Have I? What? Question? Have you ever met Jeffrey Epstein? Barr?
- 2:14Speaker 1: Not to my knowledge. Question I'll pause for a minute,
- 2:17Speaker 1: Miss Crockett, do you mind identifying yourself for the record?
- 2:21Speaker 1: And now we got Jasmin Crockett asking questions? Yes, Jasmin Crockett,
- 2:25Speaker 1: Texas thirty question and then have you ever met Miss
- 2:29Speaker 1: Glenn Maxwell? Answer not to my knowledge. Question in general,
- 2:34Speaker 1: is the Attorney General aware of every federal criminal investigation
- 2:37Speaker 1: that's happening at any given point? Answer no. Question What
- 2:42Speaker 1: sort of cases would the Attorney General be made aware of? Answer? Well,
- 2:46Speaker 1: generally things would percolate. Generally, people would report into the
- 2:50Speaker 1: Deputy Attorney General every morning. I would have a staff
- 2:53Speaker 1: meeting where the deputy participated and his principal staff and
- 2:57Speaker 1: my own staff, and matters that had come that required
- 3:00Speaker 1: my attention would come through that system. Sometimes offices would
- 3:05Speaker 1: directly communicate with me, especially when there was a conflict,
- 3:09Speaker 1: but matters would either come to my attention if there
- 3:11Speaker 1: was a disagreement within the department or if it was
- 3:14Speaker 1: a matter of national importance. Question did jur your staff
- 3:19Speaker 1: closely monitor high profile cases within the United States? Answer?
- 3:24Speaker 1: I think my staff monitored high profile cases and brought
- 3:27Speaker 1: things to my attention that they felt I should be
- 3:29Speaker 1: aware of. Question and then for pretty much the remainder
- 3:33Speaker 1: of the deposition will focus on your time as Attorney
- 3:37Speaker 1: General in the first Trump administration. Answer sure, question do
- 3:41Speaker 1: you have any conversations about Epstein case while you are
- 3:44Speaker 1: attorney general. Answer by bar any conversations. Question Yeah, just
- 3:49Speaker 1: broadly answer yes. Question do you recall when the first
- 3:53Speaker 1: one was Answer? I became at some point, and this
- 3:57Speaker 1: was six years ago, but I became aware that the
- 4:00Speaker 1: Southern District was conducting an investigation. I think it was
- 4:04Speaker 1: a little bit before his arrest, but I can't be
- 4:06Speaker 1: sure that it could have been around the time of
- 4:09Speaker 1: his arrest, but I was aware that they were conducting
- 4:12Speaker 1: an investigation. Now, I don't recall specific discussion surrounding that.
- 4:16Speaker 1: I could tell you what my understanding of what they
- 4:19Speaker 1: were investigating, but I don't remember particular conversations. It's just
- 4:23Speaker 1: my impression of what came up at the time. Question.
- 4:27Speaker 1: Can you describe your general understanding of what they were investigating? Answer? So,
- 4:32Speaker 1: my understanding was that they were investigating whether he committed
- 4:36Speaker 1: trafficking offenses, particularly focusing on his exploitation of young women,
- 4:41Speaker 1: and they were trying to make the case against them.
- 4:43Speaker 1: And in that context, they were also looking at whether
- 4:46Speaker 1: any individuals were accomplices or complicit in that activity, either
- 4:51Speaker 1: as facilitators. As you know, they ultimately went after and
- 4:55Speaker 1: convicted Glenn Maxwell, and I think they were and I
- 4:59Speaker 1: know they were all also looking at whether there was
- 5:01Speaker 1: evidence to charge anyone with participating in trafficking by having
- 5:05Speaker 1: their involvement with the traffic victims. Question, To the best
- 5:09Speaker 1: that you can, can you describe the difference between what
- 5:12Speaker 1: participating in the trafficking would be and what facilitating that
- 5:15Speaker 1: trafficking would be? Answer? Having well, the latter, I mean,
- 5:20Speaker 1: I'm sorry, participation as would be having illicit sex with
- 5:25Speaker 1: a miner a traffic miner question and facilitating answer or
- 5:29Speaker 1: anyone who was trafficking question? Yeah, answer by bar. But
- 5:34Speaker 1: certainly what the focus was on was illicit sexual activity
- 5:37Speaker 1: with a miner. Question? And then what would facilitating be
- 5:41Speaker 1: of I believe miss Maxwell was? And to that bar
- 5:45Speaker 1: cuts off the person asking the question. Answer helping conscript
- 5:49Speaker 1: young girls into Epstein's network of young girls who primarily
- 5:52Speaker 1: were involved in giving the massages and engaged in sexual
- 5:56Speaker 1: activity with them. Question. And then you say, you don't
- 6:00Speaker 1: correct me if I'm wrong. Don't really recall more than
- 6:03Speaker 1: the general conversations at that point in time, answer right, question,
- 6:07Speaker 1: do you recall who those conversations were with or kind
- 6:11Speaker 1: of surrounding the arrest of Epstein in twenty nineteen. Answer, yeah,
- 6:15Speaker 1: it was either before it could have been before the arrest,
- 6:18Speaker 1: but certainly by the time of the arrest I was
- 6:21Speaker 1: aware of it, and it would have been It would
- 6:23Speaker 1: have been the people who normally attend my meeting. It
- 6:26Speaker 1: could have been a conversation with the US attorney, but
- 6:29Speaker 1: I don't remember if it was. Question do you recall
- 6:32Speaker 1: who normally attended those meetings? You might have said earlier,
- 6:35Speaker 1: but answer it would have been the deputy and the
- 6:38Speaker 1: deputy's principal associate, as well as my chief of staff
- 6:42Speaker 1: and sometimes additional members of the staff. And it would
- 6:45Speaker 1: also include from time to time, you know, other people,
- 6:48Speaker 1: other members of the staff who were directly concerned with
- 6:51Speaker 1: the matter. Question do you recall any conversations with the
- 6:54Speaker 1: FBI at that point in time, still sticking to surrounding
- 6:57Speaker 1: his arrest? Answer no, question, And then you said you
- 7:02Speaker 1: might have included the US attorney. Are you referring to
- 7:05Speaker 1: the US attorney for the Southern District of New York
- 7:07Speaker 1: Answer Jeff Berman. Yes. Answer do you recall any conversations
- 7:12Speaker 1: with anyone in the Southern District of Florida that time? Answer?
- 7:15Speaker 1: I don't recall. Question and then do you recall any
- 7:18Speaker 1: conversations with mister alex Acosta at that time. Answer not
- 7:22Speaker 1: not about this case. Question not about Epstein. Answer not
- 7:26Speaker 1: about Epstein. Question Okay, he obviously served in the administration
- 7:31Speaker 1: bar yes, question with you so in other cases Answer yes,
- 7:37Speaker 1: question similar questions, different timeframe and different subject form. Miss Maxwell.
- 7:42Speaker 1: Do you recall any conversations about Miss Maxwell or the
- 7:45Speaker 1: Maxwell case when you were Attorney General? Answer yes, I
- 7:49Speaker 1: can't pinpoint particular discussions. I think once he committed suicide,
- 7:53Speaker 1: you know, the office. I remember being told and agreeing
- 7:56Speaker 1: that the office had to go full boar ahead on
- 7:58Speaker 1: finding other crimes that may have been committed, including looking
- 8:01Speaker 1: for people who are accomplices in some way or complicit
- 8:04Speaker 1: in some way. And her name came up in that
- 8:07Speaker 1: context obviously as a prime person. Question and don't recall
- 8:12Speaker 1: just to avoid the same list of people. But don't
- 8:14Speaker 1: recall specific conversations with anybody regarding the case. Answer. I
- 8:18Speaker 1: may have had some conversations with Berman where he said
- 8:21Speaker 1: in the wake of the suicide that he you know
- 8:23Speaker 1: that the office was very much committed to continuing the case,
- 8:27Speaker 1: getting to the bottom of everything. Question I'm going to
- 8:32Speaker 1: and to that she's cut off or he's cut off
- 8:35Speaker 1: by bar Answer. I would say she disappeared and there
- 8:39Speaker 1: was this embarrassing period where they couldn't locate her, and
- 8:42Speaker 1: you know, at some point I became aware that they
- 8:44Speaker 1: were prepared to indict her and that they couldn't find her.
- 8:47Speaker 1: But aside from that general information, I couldn't recall anything
- 8:50Speaker 1: specific about that question. I believe they eventually found her
- 8:55Speaker 1: in like a cabin in Vermont or something. Answer New
- 8:57Speaker 1: Hampshire question, New Hampshire. Do you recall how they ended
- 9:01Speaker 1: up finding her? Answer? No, I don't. Question. I'm going
- 9:04Speaker 1: to shift ahead in the timeline a little bit to
- 9:07Speaker 1: mister Epstein's death while at MCC in Manhattan. So you
- 9:10Speaker 1: previously stated that you're personally reviewed the security footage from
- 9:14Speaker 1: MCC from August ninth, twenty nineteen, into the morning of
- 9:18Speaker 1: August tenth. We'll put up with the department has since
- 9:22Speaker 1: released just so you can review it. And I just
- 9:25Speaker 1: want to ask you a first question. Does this look
- 9:28Speaker 1: like the security footage that you would have reviewed at
- 9:30Speaker 1: the time. Answer No, I can't remember specifically the security
- 9:34Speaker 1: footage and what the composition of it was. I do
- 9:38Speaker 1: recall that it showed the common area and a portion
- 9:40Speaker 1: of the stairway up to tyrrel. I think it's tyrrel. Question. Yes,
- 9:44Speaker 1: so I'll ask some more specific questions. But this is
- 9:47Speaker 1: about eleven hours that the department released this month or
- 9:50Speaker 1: so ago. And well, we'll look at it schematically. It's
- 9:55Speaker 1: a camera pointed towards the common area of the special
- 9:57Speaker 1: housing unit at MCC. The stairway on the left goes
- 10:01Speaker 1: to a different tier, and then you can see a
- 10:04Speaker 1: very little bit of stairway on the right that goes
- 10:07Speaker 1: to Tier L. Answer, uh huh, question, but you do answer.
- 10:12Speaker 1: I really can't compare it because I can't really remember question. Yeah,
- 10:16Speaker 1: answer exactly what I saw. I remember. What I remember
- 10:21Speaker 1: about what I saw is that the resolution was good
- 10:25Speaker 1: enough that I could see what the guards were up to,
- 10:27Speaker 1: the corrections officers were doing. I mean, not crystal clear,
- 10:30Speaker 1: but I could tell that they were looking at computers
- 10:32Speaker 1: and working on computers and so forth. So I remember
- 10:36Speaker 1: that the resolution was pretty good, and it may have
- 10:38Speaker 1: been it could have been an enhanced or enlarge part
- 10:42Speaker 1: of this. I just don't remember. Question. And to the
- 10:45Speaker 1: best of your recollection, were there any anomalies in the
- 10:48Speaker 1: tape that you reviewed any missing minutes or anything like that.
- 10:51Speaker 1: Answer not that I'm aware of. I was told that
- 10:54Speaker 1: it covered the period from the time he was put
- 10:57Speaker 1: in his cell to the time he was discovered. I
- 11:00Speaker 1: wasn't told of any missing minute and didn't notice any.
- 11:03Speaker 1: Question do you recall viewing other camera angles, like a
- 11:06Speaker 1: camera pointed down to your l or a camera in
- 11:10Speaker 1: the stairwell or anything. Answer? I do remember other footage
- 11:15Speaker 1: looking at other footage as well, but I think some
- 11:18Speaker 1: may have been in the hallways or interesces things like that. Question.
- 11:23Speaker 1: Did the Inspector General end up reviewing mister Epstein's death
- 11:26Speaker 1: investigating Answer? Yeah, question and they found that the camera
- 11:31Speaker 1: pointed directly down l block was transmitting in real time
- 11:34Speaker 1: but not recording to DVR. Answer yeah. Question does that
- 11:37Speaker 1: match your recollection? Answer? That matches my recollection. Let me
- 11:42Speaker 1: just say that, you know, that video came to me
- 11:44Speaker 1: after but a lot of information started coming to me
- 11:47Speaker 1: immediately in the wake of his death, and I was
- 11:49Speaker 1: getting a lot of information sort of real time and
- 11:52Speaker 1: including from the Bureau, And as I found out things,
- 11:55Speaker 1: you know, I started reaching my conclusions and this sort
- 11:58Speaker 1: of came later in my process. Question Okay, answer, it
- 12:03Speaker 1: wasn't the first thing I looked at. Question. Yeah, answer,
- 12:07Speaker 1: I think it took some time of working to get
- 12:09Speaker 1: whatever they were getting to me. So question, I'll try
- 12:14Speaker 1: to cover as much as I can, but we'll start
- 12:16Speaker 1: with the video redacted. I'm going to go ahead and
- 12:19Speaker 1: introduce what will be Exhibit three, just because I think
- 12:23Speaker 1: it'll help in the discussion. All right, folks, we're gonna
- 12:26Speaker 1: wrap up right here, and in the next episode, we're
- 12:28Speaker 1: gonna pick up where we left off. All of the
- 12:30Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
- 12:33Speaker 1: the description box. What's up, everyone, and welcome to another
- 12:36Speaker 1: episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're picking
- 12:40Speaker 1: up where we left off with Bill barr and his
- 12:43Speaker 1: Epstein related deposition. So the exhibit that they show is
- 12:49Speaker 1: a map of the special housing unit, the top tier
- 12:52Speaker 1: of the special housing unit at MCC with the cell
- 12:56Speaker 1: and it's produced by CBS Bill Barry. Yeh question, and
- 13:02Speaker 1: mister Epstein's cell is the one highlighted in red. And
- 13:05Speaker 1: just while we're looking at this and looking at the
- 13:07Speaker 1: camera footage, the camera angle that we're looking at is
- 13:10Speaker 1: a little alcove and kind of the center of the map.
- 13:14Speaker 1: Mister O'Callahan, this is you're representing that redacted about redacted. Yes,
- 13:20Speaker 1: I am, mister O'Callahan. Okay, redacted, and I can pull
- 13:24Speaker 1: the CBS article, mister O'Callahan. I just want to make
- 13:27Speaker 1: sure he's looking at where you're appointing redacted. So the
- 13:30Speaker 1: camera positioned right there, mister O'Callahan, see look at what
- 13:35Speaker 1: redacted is doing redacted. That camera position right here and
- 13:40Speaker 1: pointed towards the common area, mister o callahan, So it's
- 13:43Speaker 1: up here, bar okay, I'm glad, yeah, mister O'Callahan. And
- 13:49Speaker 1: that's a cell bar right, mister callahan, okay, redacted, all right,
- 13:55Speaker 1: I'm going to play thirty ish seconds just so we
- 13:58Speaker 1: can get our bearings on what the movings of the
- 14:01Speaker 1: jail look like at mister O'Callahan. Is Bill Barr's lawyer question.
- 14:06Speaker 1: So just while this is playing, you see what appears
- 14:09Speaker 1: to be corrections officers kind of walking around the common
- 14:12Speaker 1: area going back to the desk. And then there are
- 14:15Speaker 1: specific points I want to point out so that corrections
- 14:18Speaker 1: officers came from what appears to be a blind spot
- 14:21Speaker 1: on the camera towards the right, and that inmate came
- 14:24Speaker 1: from what appears to be a blind spot on the
- 14:26Speaker 1: camera to the right. We can pause it. I understand
- 14:30Speaker 1: we reviewed fifteen seconds of the footage, but based off
- 14:33Speaker 1: that review, do you agree that there is a bit
- 14:35Speaker 1: of a blind spot on this camera blocked by the
- 14:38Speaker 1: stair landing and that cell answer yes, redacted. I'm going
- 14:43Speaker 1: to shift ahead to the nine to twenty mark, so
- 14:45Speaker 1: I will preface this with this seven forty nine pm
- 14:48Speaker 1: on August ninth, twenty nineteen hit play video shown redacted.
- 14:54Speaker 1: So this video shows mister Epstein escorted from escorted by
- 14:58Speaker 1: corrections officers from making a phone call back to his
- 15:02Speaker 1: cell in L Block. So you can see him kind
- 15:05Speaker 1: of go out of the frame and go up those
- 15:07Speaker 1: stairs to L Block. Mister O'Callahan again redacted, you're representing
- 15:12Speaker 1: that that's Epstein walking through redacted? Yes, and O'Callahan you
- 15:17Speaker 1: can't really tell redacted. So is the doj ig and
- 15:21Speaker 1: the FBI the witness meaning bar I'm not going to
- 15:25Speaker 1: challenge it, redacted, okay, And that was going to be
- 15:30Speaker 1: my next is that your recollection of that scene as well,
- 15:33Speaker 1: that around seven to forty nine PM, mister Epstein went
- 15:36Speaker 1: to his cell for the evening answer, I can't actually
- 15:40Speaker 1: say that's my recollection of events that I saw in
- 15:43Speaker 1: the video, which is him being taken to the cell
- 15:45Speaker 1: that was seven forty nine or whatever. Question and then again,
- 15:50Speaker 1: understanding that we watched about ten seconds of that walk
- 15:54Speaker 1: from his phone to his cell. But in addition to
- 15:57Speaker 1: the blind spot of the camera kind off like to
- 16:01Speaker 1: the right, it's also a bit of a blind spot
- 16:03Speaker 1: on the staircase up to L Block. Would you agree
- 16:06Speaker 1: answer on this video, you know, only a portion of
- 16:09Speaker 1: the stairway all the way as reflected, and my recollection
- 16:13Speaker 1: was a portion of the stairway was reflected on the video.
- 16:16Speaker 1: Question that you reviewed as well? Answer yes, question Okay,
- 16:21Speaker 1: do you recall reviewing any video that showed the staircase
- 16:24Speaker 1: in its entirety? Answer no question. Do you recall reviewing
- 16:28Speaker 1: any video that showed L Block in its entirety? Answer
- 16:32Speaker 1: no question. So going back to the diagram and understanding
- 16:36Speaker 1: kind of again, we reviewed all of thirty seconds of
- 16:39Speaker 1: this footage, but I am representing that it's the thirty
- 16:42Speaker 1: seconds that surround his death or surround him. Going back
- 16:46Speaker 1: to his cell. The blind spot also includes this door
- 16:49Speaker 1: on the kind of center of the schematic, which is
- 16:52Speaker 1: an entrance into the special housing unit. And just asking,
- 16:55Speaker 1: based off your experience and everything that you've reviewed, looking
- 16:59Speaker 1: at this, looking at the video, the only video that's
- 17:02Speaker 1: publicly available, is it possible for someone to get up
- 17:05Speaker 1: to mister Epstein's cell while evading that camera? Answer? I
- 17:09Speaker 1: don't believe so. Question you don't believe so? Answer no,
- 17:14Speaker 1: question even though part of the staircase is blocked and
- 17:17Speaker 1: the entire doorway would be blocked. Answer yes, I do
- 17:20Speaker 1: not think it was physically possible for someone else to
- 17:23Speaker 1: go up that stairway. Question and then the question asker
- 17:28Speaker 1: is cut off by bar you, but then he's cut off.
- 17:33Speaker 1: Question at the time you said you believe no one
- 17:35Speaker 1: entered L Block between the time? Answer not just because
- 17:39Speaker 1: of the cameras though. Question uh huh, bar yeah. Question
- 17:44Speaker 1: so what other evidence did you have to support that
- 17:46Speaker 1: statement that no one entered L Block between seven and
- 17:49Speaker 1: fifty ish? And answer? Okay, Well, I know we're starting
- 17:53Speaker 1: with the video, but for me, the video was the
- 17:55Speaker 1: icing on the cake. Okay. Question okay. Answer, So there
- 17:59Speaker 1: was a lot of evidence about you know, a state
- 18:01Speaker 1: of mind, and other physical evidence pointing to suicide, and
- 18:05Speaker 1: also testimonial in records pointing to this. But one aspect
- 18:09Speaker 1: of this is that the shoe itself physically isolated from
- 18:13Speaker 1: the rest of the facility and that it only has
- 18:15Speaker 1: two entrance ways. The primary entrance way has to be
- 18:19Speaker 1: opened remotely by central control, so no one would have
- 18:22Speaker 1: the key for it, and it was my understanding that
- 18:25Speaker 1: that would leave a record of it being opened, so
- 18:28Speaker 1: there was no way to come in that door except
- 18:30Speaker 1: going through central control having it remotely opened. And the
- 18:34Speaker 1: second door the second question, I'm sorry, just the primary
- 18:38Speaker 1: door is the door in the center of the schematic
- 18:40Speaker 1: that appears open in the picture. Is that the primary one?
- 18:43Speaker 1: Mister O'Callahan, he's saying, this one bar the one up
- 18:48Speaker 1: here redacted? Yes, O'Callahan. Are you pointing to the black
- 18:52Speaker 1: rectangular section. Yes, O'Callahan, he's saying, it's that question, which
- 18:59Speaker 1: one is the primary end entrance into the sachu Answer? Well,
- 19:03Speaker 1: I don't recognize the schematic, but from my recollection is
- 19:06Speaker 1: the primary The primary exit is over on the right
- 19:10Speaker 1: hand side. Question okay, answer, and if it's over here,
- 19:14Speaker 1: then I would have to see the schematic. But my
- 19:17Speaker 1: recollection is that you have to come up an elevator
- 19:19Speaker 1: and then you get into a room where you have
- 19:22Speaker 1: to get through the control door that can only be
- 19:24Speaker 1: opened centrally, and then once you get through that, you
- 19:27Speaker 1: come through the door that immediately enters onto the sahu
- 19:32Speaker 1: and that requires a key, and my understanding was that
- 19:35Speaker 1: the key to that was held by the officers inside
- 19:38Speaker 1: the shoe and they would have to come and let
- 19:40Speaker 1: the person in. That's my understanding. So I think that
- 19:44Speaker 1: it was not physically possible in the first instance, well
- 19:46Speaker 1: in my opinion, for someone to come through there. But
- 19:49Speaker 1: otherwise it was also my judgment that the video corroborated
- 19:53Speaker 1: that because number one, it showed the two officers who
- 19:56Speaker 1: were in the shoe, the only ones in the shoe
- 19:59Speaker 1: at the time, did not leave their desk, so they
- 20:01Speaker 1: didn't go to let anyone in question uh huh answer.
- 20:06Speaker 1: And second it was my judgment from what I saw
- 20:08Speaker 1: on the camera and what I looked at, I didn't
- 20:10Speaker 1: think it was possible for someone to get up to
- 20:12Speaker 1: the tier and open the door without being picked up
- 20:15Speaker 1: on cameras. So question opening the door would also potentially
- 20:19Speaker 1: make noise. Answer, Oh, clearly, it's a big, heavy still door.
- 20:23Speaker 1: Question yeah answer, yeah, question, thank you. And then you
- 20:28Speaker 1: said that in the central command had to open one
- 20:31Speaker 1: of the doors, and then a key answer yes, question
- 20:35Speaker 1: located at the guard desk had to open another set
- 20:38Speaker 1: of doors. Right. Question. Did you review the command logs? Answer? No,
- 20:45Speaker 1: I didn't. Question nobody entered. Answer I didn't review them.
- 20:48Speaker 1: No question, Oh, you didn't review the command logs? Are
- 20:52Speaker 1: you aware of the to that the person asking the
- 20:55Speaker 1: question is cut off? Answer? I didn't personally review them.
- 21:00Speaker 1: I was aware that they had judged that it was
- 21:03Speaker 1: not possible for someone to come in. Question are you
- 21:06Speaker 1: aware if anyone reviewed whether or not an entrance or
- 21:09Speaker 1: exit was logged? Answer? I believe the Bureau was looking
- 21:12Speaker 1: at that intensively, the whole issue of whether this could
- 21:15Speaker 1: have been anything other than a suicide. Question Are you
- 21:19Speaker 1: referring to the Bureau of Prisons or the FBI? Answer?
- 21:22Speaker 1: I'm sorry, the FBI question, thank you answer, and the
- 21:26Speaker 1: IG question and they did an almost four year investigation
- 21:30Speaker 1: into this, I think answer the IG did question yeah.
- 21:35Speaker 1: Answer the Bureau was much quicker. Question. Now we're going
- 21:39Speaker 1: to go back back in time based on the evidence
- 21:41Speaker 1: that you reviewed, around six thirty am on August tenth.
- 21:46Speaker 1: I'm not sure they're title, but the individual delivering breakfast
- 21:49Speaker 1: to the inmates attempted deliver breakfast to mister Epstein. He
- 21:53Speaker 1: did not answer his door. He called the guards, and
- 21:56Speaker 1: they found the body and began providing medical care. Does
- 21:59Speaker 1: it sound correct to you to the best of your recollection?
- 22:02Speaker 1: Answer yes, question, and then about an hour later, he
- 22:06Speaker 1: was pronounced dead at a hospital at New York Presbyterian.
- 22:09Speaker 1: I believe in New York. Answer, I know he was
- 22:13Speaker 1: pronounced dead at the hospital. Yeah. Question When were you
- 22:16Speaker 1: first informed of mister Epstein's death? Answer it was Sunday morning.
- 22:21Speaker 1: I was in my study at home, and I got
- 22:22Speaker 1: a call from my chief of staff saying that Epstein
- 22:25Speaker 1: died from an apparent suicide. Question. Do you recall about
- 22:29Speaker 1: how close in time it was to the pronouncement of death. Answer?
- 22:34Speaker 1: I don't recall. It was in the morning, I believe.
- 22:37Speaker 1: Question and it's still your opinion today that mister Epstein
- 22:40Speaker 1: died by suicide. Answer absolutely. Question, Before getting into what
- 22:45Speaker 1: kind of the investigation looked like after that, what information
- 22:49Speaker 1: was flowing to you? Do you know, to the best
- 22:52Speaker 1: of your knowledge, what are the policies and procedures in
- 22:55Speaker 1: place that were in place to ensure that mister Epstein
- 22:58Speaker 1: didn't commit suicide. Answer, well, there had been, as you know,
- 23:02Speaker 1: there had been an attempt at suicide in July, and
- 23:04Speaker 1: based on that they put them under suicide Watch, which
- 23:07Speaker 1: is the most intensive form of monitoring. And when he
- 23:11Speaker 1: was taken off suicide Watch, based on the psychologists at
- 23:14Speaker 1: the MCC making the determination that he could be taken
- 23:18Speaker 1: off that kind of intensive watch, I found out afterward,
- 23:21Speaker 1: you know, his lawyers had been pressing hard for him
- 23:24Speaker 1: to be let out of suicide Watch, and in any event,
- 23:28Speaker 1: he was put on the next level down, which was
- 23:30Speaker 1: I forget exactly the term used for it, but required
- 23:34Speaker 1: that he have a cell mate and that he was
- 23:35Speaker 1: checked on every thirty minutes, in addition to you know,
- 23:39Speaker 1: the other general security systems in place. Those were the
- 23:42Speaker 1: two that applied directly to him that were supposed to
- 23:44Speaker 1: prevent this question. And on understanding suicide watch is very intensive,
- 23:49Speaker 1: requires a lot of staff power. And on suicide watch,
- 23:52Speaker 1: are they provided with clothes that don't tear, the sheets
- 23:55Speaker 1: that don't tear? Answer? I believe that's the case. Question
- 24:00Speaker 1: when you were first provided with a more formal briefing
- 24:03Speaker 1: regarding mister Epstein's death. Answer, I think it came virtually
- 24:07Speaker 1: every day. I found out more information. You know, I
- 24:10Speaker 1: was obviously covering it very quickly and wanted to rule
- 24:12Speaker 1: out anything other than suicide, and so pertinent information was
- 24:16Speaker 1: flowing to me pretty consistently. Question and it was answer.
- 24:22Speaker 1: The FBI conducting an investigation, and the Southern District was
- 24:25Speaker 1: involved in that. I within an hour or minutes of
- 24:30Speaker 1: finding out about it, I directed the IG to have
- 24:33Speaker 1: people in New York go to the scene and conduct
- 24:35Speaker 1: an investigation. Start an investigation. Question and you've already said that,
- 24:40Speaker 1: you know, you reviewed security camera footage. Obviously there was
- 24:43Speaker 1: a previous suicide attempt that probably had psychologist notes and
- 24:47Speaker 1: things that were available to the FBI and BOP to
- 24:50Speaker 1: review and the IG to review. Were there any other
- 24:53Speaker 1: things that you reviewed specifically? Answer? I would review photographs
- 24:58Speaker 1: when people were discussing that were pertinent. I may have seen.
- 25:02Speaker 1: I think I may have been shown logs that were apparently,
- 25:04Speaker 1: you know, erroneously filled out by the corrections officers, things
- 25:08Speaker 1: like that the systems were explained to me. From time
- 25:10Speaker 1: to time, the BOP was also conducting their own investigation,
- 25:15Speaker 1: so there was sort of three investigations going on at once.
- 25:18Speaker 1: Question and it was kind of the culmination of all
- 25:21Speaker 1: this information that was provided to you that led you
- 25:24Speaker 1: to the judgment that it was suicide. Answer? Yes, well,
- 25:28Speaker 1: over time it became clearer and clearer to me that
- 25:31Speaker 1: it was undoubtedly suicide. As I say, the video was
- 25:35Speaker 1: probably the last thing I looked at or you know,
- 25:37Speaker 1: in reaching that conclusion. Question do you recall reviewing any
- 25:41Speaker 1: specific documents during that time period, like the coroner's report? Answer?
- 25:46Speaker 1: I did review the coroner's report. Question I asked this,
- 25:50Speaker 1: but did you review like entry and exit logs from
- 25:53Speaker 1: the SHU Answer? I may have. I saw some records.
- 25:57Speaker 1: I can't remember what they are. To wrap up right here,
- 26:01Speaker 1: and in the next episode, we're going to pick up
- 26:03Speaker 1: where we left off. All of the information that goes
- 26:05Speaker 1: with this episode can be found in the description box.
- 26:09Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 26:11Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up
- 26:14Speaker 1: where we left off with Bill Barr and his deposition
- 26:18Speaker 1: before Congress. Question do you recall reviewing any specific documents
- 26:25Speaker 1: during that time period, like the coroner's report. Answer. I
- 26:28Speaker 1: did review the coroner's report. Question did you? I asked this,
- 26:33Speaker 1: but did you review like entry and exit logs for
- 26:36Speaker 1: the shoe Answer? I may have. I saw some records.
- 26:39Speaker 1: I can't remember what they were. Question Okay. The chief
- 26:42Speaker 1: medical examiner at the time stated after examination that Epstein
- 26:47Speaker 1: died by I believe it was described as kneeling hanging,
- 26:50Speaker 1: so not jumping off the top punk, but using leverage
- 26:53Speaker 1: to kind of lean forward. Does that fit your recollection, Barr?
- 26:58Speaker 1: I remember discussing of a kneeling hanging, but I can't
- 27:01Speaker 1: remember what posture he was in at the end question
- 27:04Speaker 1: and answer. They found him with his buttocks facing the
- 27:08Speaker 1: question ground answer ground, So I'm not sure if he
- 27:12Speaker 1: was on his knees at that point. Question but you
- 27:14Speaker 1: hadn't do your recall seeing any evidence that he jumped
- 27:17Speaker 1: off the bunk or otherwise fell. Answer. I think question
- 27:23Speaker 1: versus just kind of and bar cuts her off. No.
- 27:26Speaker 1: I think the evidence was that he hung himself, and
- 27:28Speaker 1: it was essentially close to the modus operandi that he
- 27:31Speaker 1: had used before being put on watch. You know the
- 27:34Speaker 1: same nowses and coming off the top and landing. In
- 27:38Speaker 1: that case, he landed on his knees. Apparently it didn't work.
- 27:41Speaker 1: I just have to interject here, which I hate to
- 27:43Speaker 1: do when we're doing these kinds of episodes, but man,
- 27:47Speaker 1: the whole entire narrative around the first supposed suicide is
- 27:50Speaker 1: bunk absolute bs. Question were you being kept apprized of
- 27:56Speaker 1: the autopsy and its results in sort of real time? Answer? No.
- 28:00Speaker 1: Question do you recall when bar that was conducted by
- 28:04Speaker 1: New York? Question? Do you recall when you first got
- 28:07Speaker 1: briefed on the autopsy? Answer? Well, I heard about it
- 28:10Speaker 1: pretty soon after it came out. Question and at that
- 28:14Speaker 1: point it kind of confirmed to you that the medical
- 28:17Speaker 1: examiner ruled it a suicide. Answer by bar Yes, and
- 28:20Speaker 1: the fact that there were I mean, I think not
- 28:23Speaker 1: only that ruling, but the fact that there was no
- 28:25Speaker 1: sign of a struggle. I mean, he was a fairly
- 28:27Speaker 1: large guy, and the idea that people would go in
- 28:30Speaker 1: there and hang them in that way, with numerous newses
- 28:32Speaker 1: being tied and so forth, without any sign of scuffle
- 28:35Speaker 1: was not plausible. Question. Yeah, I think I remember. I
- 28:40Speaker 1: don't remember which investigation it was in, but I remember
- 28:43Speaker 1: reading like, no, you know skin or fibers under his fingernails?
- 28:47Speaker 1: Answer there was none. Question no like scratch marks anything?
- 28:51Speaker 1: Answer no contusions, any kind of defensive marks? Answer none.
- 28:57Speaker 1: Question is that similar to your bar yes question recollection
- 29:02Speaker 1: bar yes? Question I believe mister Epstein's brother hired a
- 29:07Speaker 1: medical witness to review the autopsy. Answer right. Question the
- 29:12Speaker 1: examiner report named doctor Michael Boden. Answer yes, I see
- 29:16Speaker 1: him occasionally on TV. I've seen him. He frequently comes
- 29:19Speaker 1: into these kinds of situations. Question. I believe he was
- 29:23Speaker 1: described as an expert medical witness in high profile cases.
- 29:26Speaker 1: So answer uh huh. Question take with that what you
- 29:30Speaker 1: will answer? Yes, question, but do you recall doctor Boden
- 29:33Speaker 1: being involved at the time? Answer I remember just reading
- 29:36Speaker 1: news coverage. Well, he came in after I believe, after
- 29:39Speaker 1: the autopsy reached his conclusions and he offered another view
- 29:43Speaker 1: of it. And I remember press reports to that effect.
- 29:46Speaker 1: Question his view which is contrary to the medical examiners,
- 29:50Speaker 1: And again I will say that he is an expert
- 29:52Speaker 1: medical witness, not a medical examiner. Yes he is. Yes,
- 29:56Speaker 1: he is. In fact, Michael Boden has more experience than
- 29:59Speaker 1: any anybody that they had on their team at the time,
- 30:02Speaker 1: So do with that what you will. He's a medical witness,
- 30:07Speaker 1: not a medical examiner. But that Epstein had fractures to
- 30:10Speaker 1: his larnix, and I believe it was three fact fractures,
- 30:13Speaker 1: three different fractures to his hyoid bone in his neck,
- 30:16Speaker 1: and that was described as extremely unusual in suicidal hangings
- 30:20Speaker 1: and more consistent with homicidal strangulation. Do you recall any
- 30:24Speaker 1: conversations about mister Boden's report within the department or with
- 30:28Speaker 1: the FBI? Answer by Barr, I remember conversations about it,
- 30:33Speaker 1: commenting on it. Question did anyone agree with mister Boden's finding?
- 30:37Speaker 1: Answer Bar No, I mean no one expressed agreement during
- 30:40Speaker 1: any of my conversations. Question no one expressed disagreement to you.
- 30:45Speaker 1: Did you understanding the evidence and what it was and
- 30:48Speaker 1: information was flowing really quickly, did you ever see any
- 30:51Speaker 1: evidence it suggested mister Epstein's death was a homicide? Answer No.
- 30:56Speaker 1: On the contrary, I think when you look at the
- 30:59Speaker 1: cumulation of the evidence, including the testimony of individuals, his
- 31:03Speaker 1: state of mind, you know, the whole thing, the process.
- 31:06Speaker 1: You know. One of the things that impressed me was
- 31:09Speaker 1: that it would have required, It would have required people.
- 31:12Speaker 1: It wasn't known until eight o'clock that morning, I believe
- 31:14Speaker 1: that his cellmate was gone, and it wasn't even clearer
- 31:17Speaker 1: during the day whether he'd get a replacement, So there
- 31:20Speaker 1: wasn't much time for people to understand that he was
- 31:23Speaker 1: going to be by himself, very very little time, and
- 31:26Speaker 1: this would have required coordination from probably two dozen people
- 31:30Speaker 1: maybe within the prison. Okay, full stop. Why was Nicholas
- 31:34Speaker 1: Tartaglioni in the cell with Jeffrey Epstein the first time around,
- 31:37Speaker 1: after Nicholas Tartaglioni was already found with contraband in his
- 31:41Speaker 1: cell while he was facing four homicides. Furthermore, we have
- 31:46Speaker 1: no idea who was in that gel cell or in
- 31:48Speaker 1: those cells that were next to Jeffrey Epstein in the shoe.
- 31:51Speaker 1: Nobody's ever come out and said anything, so could somebody
- 31:54Speaker 1: have been planted in there previously to do this? We
- 31:57Speaker 1: got a whole ass rabbit hole still to jump down.
- 32:00Speaker 1: But it's always surface level shit with these people, right,
- 32:02Speaker 1: They never want to get to the actual story. And
- 32:08Speaker 1: all these people were in different groups, you know, the
- 32:10Speaker 1: people who were repairing the cameras, the people who you
- 32:13Speaker 1: know were responsible for opening and closing the door, the
- 32:16Speaker 1: people who are responsible for putting in a new cell,
- 32:18Speaker 1: made things like that. For all that to be coordinated,
- 32:22Speaker 1: it would have required I think, as I say, maybe
- 32:24Speaker 1: two dozen people. Question uh huh so kind of and
- 32:27Speaker 1: I'm not I don't mean to be testifying, but like
- 32:30Speaker 1: in summary, kind of between a state of mind, previous
- 32:33Speaker 1: suicide attempt, and the process in place, in addition to
- 32:36Speaker 1: the coordination it would take to override those processes all
- 32:40Speaker 1: pointed towards the suicide answer by Bar absolutely, even before
- 32:45Speaker 1: you go to the physical possibility of getting into the
- 32:48Speaker 1: shoe and getting up in his cell. Question all right, Bar?
- 32:53Speaker 1: And the fact that there are eyewitnesses on that very
- 32:55Speaker 1: tier of other prisoners, including two right across the way,
- 32:58Speaker 1: who saw no one go in that night. Okay, so
- 33:01Speaker 1: let's hear from them, bring them in front of Congress.
- 33:04Speaker 1: We're just gonna take Bill Barr's word for it. You see,
- 33:06Speaker 1: here's my big problem, folks. I don't trust any of
- 33:09Speaker 1: these people. So them telling me something is not gonna
- 33:13Speaker 1: cut it. Let's see the evidence. Question and they said
- 33:17Speaker 1: they never heard the door open. Answer, right, question and
- 33:20Speaker 1: things like that. To your knowledge, did the FBI ever
- 33:23Speaker 1: investigate Epstein's death as a homicide? Answer? To my knowledge,
- 33:27Speaker 1: no question. Do you know if anyone investigated? Answer? I
- 33:31Speaker 1: think they investigated to determine whether it was a homicide,
- 33:34Speaker 1: but I don't think they ever got to the point
- 33:37Speaker 1: of feeling that this was a homicide. Question they never
- 33:41Speaker 1: the evidence bar cuts her off. I mean it was
- 33:44Speaker 1: a homicide or I mean a suicide? Question? Yeah, answer, yeah, question,
- 33:49Speaker 1: the kind of evidence never swung to more probable answer,
- 33:53Speaker 1: no question. Do you recall anyone investigating it as a
- 33:57Speaker 1: homicide that you were aware of? Answer No, I don't
- 34:01Speaker 1: think anyone got to the point of feeling that it
- 34:03Speaker 1: was a murder. Well, that's a problem right there, because
- 34:06Speaker 1: any death that happens inside of a jail is considered
- 34:09Speaker 1: a homicide until an investigation cracks off. They don't know
- 34:12Speaker 1: what happened, so they can't rule it out as a homicide,
- 34:14Speaker 1: So it's a homicide investigation, right. Question. Going back to
- 34:20Speaker 1: doctor Boden, just very briefly, I know that you said
- 34:22Speaker 1: you recalled generally, you recalled conversations regarding his contrary findings.
- 34:27Speaker 1: Do you recall having any conversations about mister Epstein's broken
- 34:30Speaker 1: learnix and hyoid bones outside of doctor Boden's findings. Answer.
- 34:35Speaker 1: I think I heard it discussed within the department. Question
- 34:39Speaker 1: and to the best of your recollection, the discussions or
- 34:41Speaker 1: that it was still consistent with suicidal hanging. Answer right
- 34:46Speaker 1: that they said they believe the medical examiner was correct.
- 34:49Speaker 1: Question and then you already said this, but I want
- 34:51Speaker 1: to ask it explicitly. You instructed the IG to open
- 34:55Speaker 1: the investigation? Answer? Yes, answer, as soon as I got
- 34:59Speaker 1: off the phone with my chief of staff, I believe
- 35:01Speaker 1: he contacted I asked him to contact the IG immediately.
- 35:04Speaker 1: I know that they're very familiar with Bureau of Prisons
- 35:07Speaker 1: and its processes, and I was told that he had
- 35:10Speaker 1: people up in New York who could get to the
- 35:12Speaker 1: prison right away. Question and then we've talked about mister
- 35:16Speaker 1: Epstein's state of mind an awful lot. And you said
- 35:18Speaker 1: that you or someone reviewed kind of the psychologist notes
- 35:21Speaker 1: from the previous suicide attempt, the reports that are associated
- 35:25Speaker 1: with taking an individual off suicide watch. Do you recall
- 35:29Speaker 1: any other evidence regarding what you were reviewed regarding his
- 35:32Speaker 1: state of mind? Mister Epstein's state of mind. Answer, Well,
- 35:35Speaker 1: you know I was aware of that. You know, he
- 35:37Speaker 1: had tried suicide, which I viewed as an attempt at suicide.
- 35:40Speaker 1: He had done his last will and testament right before.
- 35:43Speaker 1: Question when did you become aware of that one? Answer?
- 35:46Speaker 1: Sometime during the period where I was absorbing information. I
- 35:50Speaker 1: can't pinpoint it, but there was a period of time
- 35:52Speaker 1: where things were being learned and I was finding out
- 35:55Speaker 1: about them if they were pertinent, and he his efforts
- 35:59Speaker 1: to get bail had failed, So he was looking at
- 36:01Speaker 1: a period of time of incarceration in that place, which
- 36:04Speaker 1: I think for him was very difficult. Just to point
- 36:08Speaker 1: out Epstein's lawyers tell us something completely different. And I
- 36:12Speaker 1: do remember the buzz that was caused that Friday, I
- 36:14Speaker 1: believe by the release of documents by the court that
- 36:17Speaker 1: had a lot of salacious material in there about prominent
- 36:20Speaker 1: individuals and so forth, and that caused quite a stir.
- 36:23Speaker 1: And so I think that my judgment was that this
- 36:26Speaker 1: sort of set the stage for and was and he
- 36:29Speaker 1: made the call to his girlfriend. Apparently I found out
- 36:32Speaker 1: early that he that procedures were not followed and that
- 36:36Speaker 1: he was allowed to make an unmonitored call to a
- 36:38Speaker 1: woman who I believe in Belarussia, and who was his
- 36:43Speaker 1: I understood to be or believed to be his girlfriend
- 36:45Speaker 1: at the time, and he made a call to her
- 36:47Speaker 1: at that point. So it seemed important for him to
- 36:50Speaker 1: make a call to her that evening. So let's bring
- 36:52Speaker 1: her in and let's talk to her, let's talk to
- 36:55Speaker 1: doctor Boden. But no, they won't do it, will they.
- 36:59Speaker 1: And so put these together. I think it was consistent
- 37:02Speaker 1: with suicide question. And then during answer he cuts her
- 37:06Speaker 1: off just as to just as to a state of mind.
- 37:09Speaker 1: All right, folks, we're gonna wrap up right here, and
- 37:11Speaker 1: in the next episode, we're gonna pick up where we
- 37:13Speaker 1: left off. All of the information that goes with this
- 37:16Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box. What's up, everyone,
- 37:20Speaker 1: and welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In
- 37:23Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to pick up where he left
- 37:25Speaker 1: off with Bill Barr and his deposition before Congress. Question.
- 37:32Speaker 1: During his speech shortly thereafter at the Fraternal Order of
- 37:35Speaker 1: Police conference on August twelfth, you said that you learned
- 37:38Speaker 1: of serious irregularities that were deeply concerning at mcc answer.
- 37:43Speaker 1: Uh huh question, do you recall what the irregularities were answer, Well, one,
- 37:49Speaker 1: you know, I was wondering who the person was who
- 37:51Speaker 1: made the decision to take him off suicide watch. He
- 37:54Speaker 1: had already attempted suicide, and for all the reasons, I
- 37:57Speaker 1: just stated it was someone that had to be watched,
- 38:00Speaker 1: and he was high, very high profile, and he would
- 38:02Speaker 1: be under pressure to identify co conspirators. So I think
- 38:06Speaker 1: that was one. The fact that the checks, the thirty
- 38:09Speaker 1: minute checks, were not performed, and I would say that
- 38:12Speaker 1: there was nothing apparently unusual about that. This wasn't like
- 38:15Speaker 1: people getting together and saying, Okay, tonight, we're not going
- 38:19Speaker 1: to perform the watches. Apparently it was pretty consistent that
- 38:22Speaker 1: they failed to perform the checks. And thirdly, they didn't
- 38:25Speaker 1: place and very importantly that they didn't place another prisoner
- 38:29Speaker 1: in his cell. So I was referring to those and
- 38:31Speaker 1: you know, all these and the camera not being on that.
- 38:35Speaker 1: You know, that's obviously not necessarily directly relevant to it,
- 38:38Speaker 1: but you know, the same way the others are. But
- 38:41Speaker 1: it's still these screw ups happening at the same time. Question,
- 38:45Speaker 1: and that was going to be my next question. You
- 38:47Speaker 1: also described it as a perfect storm of screw ups. Answer, Uh,
- 38:50Speaker 1: huh question. I think the exact quote that you're referencing
- 38:54Speaker 1: the same things, the checks not being done, the guards
- 38:57Speaker 1: allegedly falsifying the record regarding answer uh huh question, the checks,
- 39:03Speaker 1: the camera's not working. Also the corrections officers also didn't
- 39:07Speaker 1: perform the institutional counts that night. Answer right question, those
- 39:11Speaker 1: kinds of things, the perfect storm of screw ups. Is
- 39:14Speaker 1: that what you were referring to, answer right, And that
- 39:18Speaker 1: became clearer and clearer as things went by. But I
- 39:20Speaker 1: started off with a state of mind on this thing,
- 39:23Speaker 1: like you know, this is going to take some explaining,
- 39:25Speaker 1: so you know, and I can see why people would
- 39:28Speaker 1: be suspicious more than suspicious. Question where the IG report
- 39:33Speaker 1: came out after your time as Attorney General in June
- 39:36Speaker 1: of twenty twenty three, bar yes, question, were you getting
- 39:40Speaker 1: updates from the IG or just the FBI? Answer? I
- 39:43Speaker 1: think my best recollection is that initially I did get
- 39:46Speaker 1: some updates, you know, sort of orienting me to some
- 39:50Speaker 1: of the big facts and factors. But you know that
- 39:53Speaker 1: sort of dribbled away, and certainly after I left the department,
- 39:56Speaker 1: I wasn't getting anything. But I don't, I can't. Initially
- 40:00Speaker 1: I got some information and that gradually ended. Question. So
- 40:04Speaker 1: the kind of steady stream, as much as it can
- 40:06Speaker 1: be described that way, was more from internal to the
- 40:10Speaker 1: department FBI BOP investigations that you were getting information from
- 40:15Speaker 1: bar Yeah, through staff, sometimes through BOP people, through my
- 40:19Speaker 1: own staff who they would talk to, sometimes directly. David Bowditch,
- 40:23Speaker 1: who was the deputy FBI director and I had a
- 40:27Speaker 1: good relationship and we talked frequently, and even as time
- 40:30Speaker 1: went by during the rest of my tenure, when something
- 40:33Speaker 1: some you know, clickbait type article appeared about something in
- 40:36Speaker 1: the Epstein case, I would sometimes call him and say,
- 40:39Speaker 1: did you guys look at that? And you know, so
- 40:41Speaker 1: I was continuing to pick up information. Question you just
- 40:45Speaker 1: mentioned David Bowditch, Deputy director of the FBI at the time,
- 40:49Speaker 1: it was reported that you instructed them to keep the
- 40:51Speaker 1: Deputy ag mister Rosen informed every three hours. Does that
- 40:55Speaker 1: sound accurate? Answer? Maybe on the first or second day. Yeah,
- 41:00Speaker 1: it definitely bar cuts her off. I mean initially did
- 41:04Speaker 1: I say every three hours? Question? That was what was reported,
- 41:08Speaker 1: but you know that that's what's reported. Answer, but wasn't
- 41:11Speaker 1: in my book? Question? No answer, Okay, I told him
- 41:15Speaker 1: to keep the deputy's office advised, you know, I think
- 41:18Speaker 1: probably every day. I doubt I said every three hours.
- 41:21Speaker 1: But if I did say it, that may have been
- 41:23Speaker 1: just for the first few days. Like we need to
- 41:26Speaker 1: know in real time because all these allegations and the
- 41:29Speaker 1: internet was going crazy. Question. Yeah, we just discussed some
- 41:33Speaker 1: of the I'll describe them as kind of security failures
- 41:36Speaker 1: at the time more maybe caused by low staffing, low budget,
- 41:41Speaker 1: whatever the cause was, there were a number of failures
- 41:44Speaker 1: that occurred between August ninth and August tenth. We've discussed
- 41:47Speaker 1: that mister Epstein attempted suicide on July twenty third, twenty nineteen,
- 41:52Speaker 1: And you said you were you Did you become aware
- 41:55Speaker 1: of that after his death or was it prior? Answer?
- 41:58Speaker 1: Become aware of what? Question his attempted suicide in July. Answer,
- 42:03Speaker 1: that's a good question. You know, at some point I
- 42:06Speaker 1: obviously became aware of it. It's possible it happened before
- 42:10Speaker 1: his suicide, that he was taken off. You're saying question
- 42:13Speaker 1: or that he answer, no, I heard about his suicide
- 42:17Speaker 1: question No that in July answer, I mean suicide attempt.
- 42:21Speaker 1: Question you heard about the suicide attempt? Barr, Yes, question
- 42:25Speaker 1: prior to his eventual death. Answer, yes, and I knew
- 42:29Speaker 1: he was put on I knew he was put on
- 42:31Speaker 1: suicide watch. Question I mean to that she's cut off
- 42:35Speaker 1: by bar But I don't remember being told that he
- 42:38Speaker 1: was off the watch. I could have been told before
- 42:40Speaker 1: his suicide. My best recollection is that after his suicide,
- 42:44Speaker 1: I was certainly told about the kerfuffle over whether or
- 42:47Speaker 1: not he should be taken off watch. Question and that
- 42:50Speaker 1: kind of information flowing up to the Attorney General's office.
- 42:53Speaker 1: Was it primarily because mister Apstein was a very high
- 42:56Speaker 1: profile inmate? Answer that he attempted suicide? Question? Uh huh
- 43:01Speaker 1: answer yes, answer well, yes, question the Attorney General wouldn't
- 43:07Speaker 1: be notified every time an inmate in BOP custody attempt suicide.
- 43:11Speaker 1: Answer not for an attempt. Question. We discussed him being
- 43:15Speaker 1: put on suicide watch and kind of what that entailed.
- 43:18Speaker 1: And you just mentioned where I was going next. That
- 43:22Speaker 1: he was removed from watch after twenty four hours, which
- 43:25Speaker 1: I believe is the minimum amount of time that you're
- 43:27Speaker 1: allowed to be on suicide watch. Answer. I can't remember
- 43:31Speaker 1: exactly how long he was on watch. I was under
- 43:34Speaker 1: the impression it was multiple days, But I don't know. Question,
- 43:39Speaker 1: I'll represent this and I can bring it into the record.
- 43:42Speaker 1: But he was on official suicide watch for twenty four
- 43:45Speaker 1: hours and then stayed in that cell for about a week,
- 43:47Speaker 1: but was no longer on constant monitoring, and then he
- 43:51Speaker 1: was moved back to the shoe. Answer, I just can't
- 43:54Speaker 1: remember those details. Question Okay, bar I know he was
- 43:57Speaker 1: on suicide watch and then he was released from suicide watch.
- 44:01Speaker 1: Question and you mentioned and I'll get your thought a
- 44:05Speaker 1: kind of kerfuffle around. Barber interrupts her. Yeah, question whether
- 44:11Speaker 1: or not to be removed from suicide watch. Can you
- 44:13Speaker 1: get into more detail about that? Answer? Well, what happened
- 44:16Speaker 1: and people were filling me in on it on this
- 44:19Speaker 1: because it did not cast either a BOP or the
- 44:22Speaker 1: department in a good light that he was, that someone
- 44:25Speaker 1: like this would attempt suicide and then not be put
- 44:27Speaker 1: on suicide watch. So I was regaled about that. You
- 44:32Speaker 1: know the arguments and the process. Question okay, and your
- 44:35Speaker 1: a call. Do your recall people advocating for a longer
- 44:38Speaker 1: suicide watch for him? Answer? I don't recall the details.
- 44:42Speaker 1: No question and then answer, you know, I mean main
- 44:47Speaker 1: justice would not have been involved in that because you know,
- 44:50Speaker 1: this was a pre trial. MCC is pre trial, and
- 44:53Speaker 1: you know, generally the way a pre trial suspect is
- 44:55Speaker 1: handled is monitored by the US Attorney's Office because they're
- 44:59Speaker 1: the ones have to report to the judge when the
- 45:01Speaker 1: judge is asking questions about you know, and so I
- 45:04Speaker 1: normally wouldn't have been brought into that something of this profile.
- 45:08Speaker 1: I wish I had been. Question and then the IG
- 45:13Speaker 1: kind of went into detail about going on and taken
- 45:16Speaker 1: off suicide Watch. Do you remember any internal investigation after
- 45:19Speaker 1: his death, whether about the decision to take him off
- 45:23Speaker 1: suicide Watch? Answer? Just the IGS and yeah, just the IGS.
- 45:27Speaker 1: I don't know about the bureau. I can't remember. Question
- 45:31Speaker 1: and FBI as a bureau in that case. Answer yes, question, Okay,
- 45:35Speaker 1: I'm sorry, there's lots of bureaus. Answer there's the only bureau. Question.
- 45:42Speaker 1: And again, all of this is the best of your recollection,
- 45:45Speaker 1: So if you don't recall the specifics, that's totally okay.
- 45:48Speaker 1: After he was put back in the special housing unit,
- 45:50Speaker 1: according to his roommate who was interviewed by the IG,
- 45:53Speaker 1: he was provided with extra betting in sheets, a perk
- 45:56Speaker 1: that not very many inmates got Do you recall conversations
- 45:59Speaker 1: about that? Answer? I don't remember that question? Okay. Shifting
- 46:04Speaker 1: to the security cameras, which we talked about a little bit,
- 46:07Speaker 1: but I want to talk about the circumstances surrounding the
- 46:10Speaker 1: cameras a little bit more. There were eleven or so
- 46:14Speaker 1: in or around the shoe entrance and exits hallways, and
- 46:17Speaker 1: we always discussed the one pointing straight down L Block,
- 46:21Speaker 1: and then we watched the footage from the one pointing
- 46:24Speaker 1: into the common area. There was a DVR failure that
- 46:28Speaker 1: resulted in these cameras working in real time but not recording.
- 46:31Speaker 1: Does that do you recall that answer? It was my
- 46:34Speaker 1: understanding that a number of the cameras were not recording,
- 46:36Speaker 1: although they were still streaming live. Question and the DVR
- 46:40Speaker 1: failure was for a while, had been going on for
- 46:43Speaker 1: a while, but was discovered on August eighth. Does that
- 46:46Speaker 1: sound answer? I didn't know that at the time, but
- 46:49Speaker 1: subsequently found out question and then kind of the process
- 46:53Speaker 1: of getting it back on answer getting it fixed, bar
- 46:56Speaker 1: says question getting it fixed took longer than expected. Answer? Yes,
- 47:01Speaker 1: question is that right? Answer? Yes, I was not aware
- 47:04Speaker 1: of this and that it was going on. I was
- 47:06Speaker 1: aware shortly after the suicide that the cameras had apparently failed,
- 47:10Speaker 1: and there was an effort that went on for I
- 47:12Speaker 1: would say more than one day, you know, of the
- 47:15Speaker 1: Bureau going into with technical experts to try to still
- 47:18Speaker 1: capture something and go over the disc and stuff like that.
- 47:22Speaker 1: Question do you recall the explanation given for the failure
- 47:25Speaker 1: of the cameras. Answer no, I can't remember the details
- 47:28Speaker 1: of it, but I did monitor the technical people who
- 47:31Speaker 1: were working hard on trying to get it, and then
- 47:33Speaker 1: you know, I saw whatever that they had. Question do
- 47:37Speaker 1: you recall seeing any evidence of tampering with the DVR system?
- 47:41Speaker 1: Answer the Bureau I don't think believed it was tampered.
- 47:45Speaker 1: They felt it was there was a non malicious explanation
- 47:49Speaker 1: for it. Question and kind of generally in your discussion
- 47:52Speaker 1: with the FBI and others investigating this, did the lack
- 47:56Speaker 1: of camera recordings have any negative impact on the investigation? Answer?
- 48:01Speaker 1: You know, I mean it made the investigation harder obviously. Yeah.
- 48:05Speaker 1: Question I mean if the camera down l block had
- 48:08Speaker 1: been working, it would have been an easier investigation. Answer yeah,
- 48:11Speaker 1: now it was working, and that's question. Yes, if it
- 48:14Speaker 1: had been a recording. Answer, it wasn't. In I'm not sure,
- 48:19Speaker 1: but in my belief is that it was not general
- 48:22Speaker 1: knowledge that they were not recording, and people would have
- 48:25Speaker 1: thought that they were working. Mister O'Callahan. So when you
- 48:28Speaker 1: spoke about the camera failures in answering redacted's questions, the
- 48:32Speaker 1: failures were the recording bar. That's then he's cut off.
- 48:37Speaker 1: Question Yes, and I apologize. I'm trying to be very specific,
- 48:41Speaker 1: and that it was not recording to the DVR. They
- 48:44Speaker 1: were projecting on the security monitors in real time, just
- 48:47Speaker 1: not saving to the DVR. You talk about another one
- 48:50Speaker 1: of these series of mistakes is the lack of a
- 48:52Speaker 1: roommate that after suicide Watch, the psych department said that
- 48:56Speaker 1: he needed to have a roommate at all times. Do
- 48:58Speaker 1: you recall conversation in that aftermath about why there wasn't
- 49:02Speaker 1: a roommate assigned to his cell? Answer? Yes, question what
- 49:06Speaker 1: were those conversations? Answer? I can't remember the details, but
- 49:10Speaker 1: I actually spent a lot of time on this issue
- 49:13Speaker 1: and had people walk me through. You know, why it
- 49:15Speaker 1: was being released, what's the process. Why did he have
- 49:18Speaker 1: to be released? Then? Who was in charge of that?
- 49:20Speaker 1: Why did he get released and went through all that
- 49:23Speaker 1: stuff and I went through it in detail. Question and
- 49:26Speaker 1: didn't find to your knowledge, didn't find anything malicious in
- 49:29Speaker 1: the timing of this release. Answer? No, question. And you
- 49:33Speaker 1: didn't find anything malicious in that the mcc had not
- 49:37Speaker 1: assigned Epstein a new roommate. Answer. I think that was
- 49:40Speaker 1: the judgment of the FBI after a period of time,
- 49:43Speaker 1: and then that ultimately was the judgment of the IG
- 49:45Speaker 1: as well. That's my recollection question. Do you recall what
- 49:50Speaker 1: kind of indications were brought to you that it was
- 49:53Speaker 1: just a mistake to not assign them a roommate. Answer.
- 49:57Speaker 1: I can't remember the details of it. The who John,
- 50:00Speaker 1: but there were a lot of people involved who you know,
- 50:03Speaker 1: I told him this, No, he didn't tell me this.
- 50:06Speaker 1: You know, whether this watch officer knew something or whether
- 50:10Speaker 1: they didn't know something, and it was sort of it
- 50:12Speaker 1: was intricate, that's all I can remember. Question. Yeah, answer,
- 50:16Speaker 1: But at the end of the day it appeared to
- 50:18Speaker 1: be screw ups. All right, we're gonna wrap up right
- 50:21Speaker 1: here and in the next episode dealing with the topic,
- 50:23Speaker 1: We're gonna pick up where we left off. All of
- 50:25Speaker 1: the information that goes with This episode can be found
- 50:28Speaker 1: in the description box.