The DOJ OIG investigation and review identified:

• Numerous and Serious Failures by MCC New York Staff. The DOJ OIG found numerous and serious
  failures by MCC New York staff constituting misconduct and dereliction of their duties. Among other
  things, these failures resulted in Epstein being unmonitored and alone in his cell with an excessive
  amount of bed linens, from approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 9 until he was discovered hanged in
  his locked cell on August 10 at approximately 6:30 a.m.
  • MCC New York Staff Failed to Ensure that Epstein Was Assigned a Cellmate. Following a July 23,2019, incident that resulted in Epstein being placed on suicide watch, the MCC New York Psychology Department determined that Epstein needed to be housed with an appropriate cellmate. On August 9, Epstein’s cellmate was transferred out of MCC New York. MCC New York staff knew that Epstein did not have a cellmate but did not take steps to ensure that he was assigned a new cellmate.
  • MCC New York Staff Failed to Undertake Required Measures Designed to Ensure that Epstein and Other Inmates Were Accounted for and Safe. BOP policy requires Special Housing Unit (SHU) staff to observe all inmates, conduct rounds, conduct inmate counts, search inmate cells, and ensure adequate supervision of the SHU. BOP staff in the SHU in the hours before Epstein’s death failed to carry out these responsibilities. Specifically, only one SHU cell search was documented on August 9, and it was not of Epstein’s cell. BOP records did not indicate when Epstein’s cell was last searched. Had Epstein’s cell been searched as required, the search would have revealed that Epstein had excess prison blankets, linens, and clothing in his cell. The OIG also found that SHU staff did not conduct any 30-minute rounds after about 10:40 p.m. on August 9 and that none of the required SHU inmate counts were conducted after 4:00 p.m. on August 9. MCC New York staff falsified count slips and round sheets to show that they had been performed when they were not, leaving Epstein unobserved for hours before his death. Following a DOJ OIG investigation, two MCC New York employees were charged criminally with falsifying BOP records. The charges were dismissed upon compliance by the employees with the terms of deferred prosecution agreements they entered into with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. That office declined prosecution for 2 other MCC New York employees who the OIG found created false documentation on earlier dates and times not proximate to the Epstein’s death.
  • MCC New York Staff Failed to Ensure that the Institution’s Security Camera System was Fully Functional Resulting in Limited Recorded Video Evidence. BOP policy also requires SHU staff to ensure the functionality of the video camera surveillance system. This investigation and review revealed longstanding deficiencies with MCC New York’s security camera system. Although video cameras in the SHU provided live video feeds to monitoring stations, system deficiencies resulted in nearly all of the cameras in and around the SHU where Epstein was being housed to not record video starting in late July 2019 and continuing through the date of Epstein’s death.
• Long-standing Operational Challenges. The DOJ OIG has repeatedly identified long-standing operational challenges that negatively affect the BOP’s ability to operate its institutions safely and securely. Many of those same operational challenges, including staffing shortages, managing inmates at risk for suicide, maintaining functional security camera systems, management failures, and widespread disregard of BOP policies and procedures, were again identified by the OIG during this investigation and review of the custody, care, and supervision of Epstein, one of the BOP’s most high profile inmates.
• No Evidence Contradicting the FBI’s Determination that there Was No Criminality Associated with Epstein’s Death. Separate from the OIG’s investigation, which focused on the conduct of BOP personnel, the FBI concurrently investigated whether Epstein’s death was the result of criminal conduct by any non-BOP actors. Among other things, the FBI investigated the cause of Epstein’s death and determined it was not the result of a criminal act. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City of New York, determined that Epstein died by suicide. While the OIG determined MCC New York staff engaged in significant misconduct and dereliction of their duties, we did not uncover evidence contradicting the FBI’s determination regarding the absence of criminality in connection with Epstein’s death.

The combination of negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures documented in the report all contributed to an environment in which arguably one of the most notorious inmates in BOP’s custody was provided with the opportunity to take his own life. The BOP’s failures are troubling not only because the BOP did not adequately safeguard an individual in its custody, but also because they led to questions about the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death and effectively deprived Epstein’s numerous victims of the opportunity to seek justice through the criminal justice process. The fact that these failures have been recurring ones at the BOP does not excuse them and gives additional urgency to the need for DOJ and BOP leadership to address the chronic problems plaguing the BOP.

The DOJ OIG made eight recommendations to improve the BOP’s management of its correctional institutions. The BOP agreed with all recommendations.

You can find the report below.

The Report

DOJ OIG Releases Report on the BOP’s Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York [128 Pages, 6.2MB]

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The post DOJ OIG Releases Report on the BOP’s Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Department of Justice (Department) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) investigated allegations that in 2007-2008, prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO) improperly resolved a federal investigation into the criminal conduct of Jeffrey Epstein by negotiating and executing a federal non-prosecution agreement (NPA). The NPA was intended to end a federal investigation into allegations that Epstein engaged in illegal sexual activity with girls. OPR also investigated whether USAO prosecutors committed professional misconduct by failing to consult with victims of Epstein’s crimes before the NPA was
signed or by misleading victims regarding the status of the federal investigation after the signing.

Document Archive

DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility Report on Jeffrey Epstein 2006-2008 Investigation, November 2020 [13 Pages, 0.5MB]

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The post DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility Report on Jeffrey Epstein 2006-2008 Investigation, November 2020 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Videotaped deposition of GHISLAINE MAXWELL, taken pursuant to subpoena, was held at the law offices of BOIES SCHILLER & FLEXNER, 575 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, commencing April 22, 2016, 9:04 a.m., on the above date, before Leslie Fagin, a Court Reporter and Notary Public in the State of New York.

Document Archive

Ghislaine Maxwell 2016 Deposition Unsealed on October 22, 2020 [465 Pages, 3.93MB]

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The post Ghislaine Maxwell 2016 Deposition Unsealed on October 22, 2020 first appeared on The Black Vault.

One day prior to Jeffrey Epstein reportedly committing suicide on August 10, 2019, approximately 2,000 pages of records were unsealed by the courts. They related to Epstein and allegations about what he may have been involved in, and were from a 2015 defamation lawsuit by accuser Virginia Giuffre [who claimed to have been abused by Epstein among others, when underage]against Ghislaine Maxwell [who allegedly helped traffic Giuffre], Epstein’s longtime companion and confidant.  The documents reveal many high-profile, very wealthy individuals, may have also been involved in some manner.

The 2015 defamation case was settled outside of court, under confidential terms. The documents relating to the case were petitioned to be released, which was ultimately denied. However, after an appeal of that judgement was filed, three judges from the Second Circuit in New York on July 2, 2019, ordered the released of thousands of pages relating to the case. The order is archived below, along with the first of the documents released on Friday, August 9th, 2019.

Document Archive

.Zip File of all four files listed below [759MB]

Second Circuit Court of Appeals Order to Unseal Documents, Decided July 2, 2019 [26 Pages, 0.6MB]

Complete Archive of  Unsealed Documents, Released August 9, 2019 [2,024 Pages, 394MB] – Processed / The Black Vault converted the remaining records not currently searchable in the .pdf, to searchable, along with rotating images that were not positioned correctly and appeared ‘sideways’ and difficult to read.

Complete Archive of  Unsealed Documents, Released August 9, 2019 [2,024 Pages, 387MB] – Unprocessed / This .pdf is as is, as first released.

Second Archive of  Unsealed Documents, Released August 9, 2019, Likely Duplicate from Above (Appears to be a smaller, incomplete set of records, but archived here for reference) [354 Pages, 3.8MB]

The post Jeffrey Epstein / Ghislaine Maxwell / Virginia Giuffre Unsealed Documents first appeared on The Black Vault.

Jeffrey Edward Epstein (January 20, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was an American financier and convicted sex offender. Epstein began his career in finance at the investment bank Bear Stearns before forming his own firm, J. Epstein & Co. Until his conviction for sex crimes in 2008, Epstein was a multimillionaire who was connected with the financial, political, and cultural elite of society.

In April 2005, police of Palm Beach, Florida began investigating Epstein after a parent complained that he molested her 14-year-old daughter. After an investigation, prosecution, and plea negotiations, Epstein pleaded guilty and was convicted by a Florida state court of soliciting a prostitute and of procuring an underage girl for prostitution on June 30, 2008. He served 13 months in custody with work release as part of a plea deal while federal officials had identified 36 girls as young as 14 years old who had been molested.

Epstein was arrested again on July 6, 2019 on federal charges for sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died on August 10, 2019, reportedly after hanging himself in his Manhattan prison cell. Three weeks earlier, Epstein had been found unconscious in his jail cell with injuries to his neck and placed on suicide watch, which lasted six days and ended twelve days before he died. An autopsy was performed on August 11; the New York City medical examiner’s office announced that it needed more information before the cause of death could be determined, though it is presumed to be suicide.

Document Archive

FBI Files on Jeffrey Epstein (Release 1-21) [1,379 Pages, 49MB] – This searchable .pdf contains FBI release files #1-21 of the Jeffrey Epstein files.  They primarily deal in the 2005-2007 timeframe, leading up to the 2008 guilty plea deal. These batches of records were released 2019 by the FBI.

FBI Files on Jeffrey Epstein (Not currently released on put on FBI “Vault” website) and released to The Black Vault October 2019 [4 Pages, 2.2MB]

FBI Files on Jeffrey Epstein (Release 22) [47 Pages, 7.5MB] – This batch of records were released circa 2020.

The post FBI Files on Jeffrey Epstein first appeared on The Black Vault.