Jeffrey Epstein’s guards put on leave, warden reassigned after accused sex abuser dies in jail
- Trump says he wants ‘full investigation’ of how wealthy financier took his own life in high-security prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges
- Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee chairman calls for Epstein’s ‘crooked’ 2008 plea deal to be scrapped
The US Justice Department says two guards assigned to watch Jeffrey Epstein when he killed himself in jail have been placed on administrative leave.
The department said in a statement on Tuesday that the warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre (MCC) has also been temporarily reassigned to an office post pending the outcome of two investigations. Both the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general are investigating Epstein’s death.
The news came after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he wants a “full investigation” into the circumstances surrounding how the financier was able to take his own life at the high-security facility in New York while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The Justice Department says the warden of another facility in upstate New York has been named the acting warden at the MCC. The department says it will take additional personnel action as warranted.
Speaking to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey, Trump said: “Basically what we’re saying is we want an investigation. I want a full investigation, and that’s what I absolutely am demanding. That’s what our attorney general, our great attorney general is doing. He’s doing a full investigation.”