Chalk One Up for Mainstream Containment of the Epstein Suicide Saga

To stay with the Epstein suicide saga again this morning, what's noteworthy is that the story has disappeared from the homepage of The New York Times. Scroll way down and there is a link to a story written by Sharon Otterman (see "Hundreds of Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Flood N.Y. Courts") about New York's Child Victims Act . The law allows victims of sexual abuse, regardless of their age, one year  to file civil suits against their abusers. More bad news for the Boys Scouts and the Catholic Church.

One has to peruse AP's top stories for the latest on the Epstein suicide. There is a compelling installment in the mainstream containment effort, "For inmates like Epstein, suicide watch is meant to be short" by Larry Neumeister and Michael Biesecker.  Basically, the Metropolitan Correctional Center is a rat-infested shit hole poorly staffed. Inmates kill themselves there all the time. And, oh, by the way, suicide watch is always short term because it involves abusive treatment for the inmate -- lights always on; no bedding -- and round-the-clock staffing.

So chalk one up for mainstream containment of the suicide narrative. Given this AP story, it is not so strange why the prison would remove Epstein from suicide. But the question persists, "When Epstein's cellmate posted bail on Friday, why wasn't he replaced?"

AP reports in a separate story --"Epstein accuser sues as questions swirl about his death" -- that correspondence relating to the case was released yesterday; it documents the judge who is presiding in Epstein case, Richard Berman, confused about the particulars of Epstein's July suicide attempt:

Last month, Epstein had been put on suicide watch, with 24-hour monitoring and daily psychiatric evaluations, after he was found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck. But he was taken off suicide watch at the end of July and returned to the jail’s special housing unit, for inmates requiring close supervision.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, who in charge of the criminal case against Epstein, asked the jail’s warden for answers about that episode, saying in a letter Monday that it had “never been definitively explained.”

The warden replied that an internal investigation was completed but that he couldn’t provide information because the findings were being incorporated into investigations into Epstein’s death.

The series of letters, made public Wednesday, began with the warden writing Berman to inform him that Epstein had died. The judge wrote in his response that Epstein’s death “is a tragedy to everyone involved in his case.”

Why has no public explanation been provided to date?  The DOJ is probably waiting to compile a Warren Report-like snow job to cow the press and buffalo the public.

One good thing about the Epstein suicide saga, it has brought the reporting of Whitney Webb a larger audience.