Uproar follows death of Epstein

The aftermath of the death of Jeffrey Epstein reverberated through US politics and the criminal justice community on Sunday.

The disgraced financier and convicted sex offender was found unresponsive in his cell Saturday morning at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan, a federal lockup. Paramedics were unable to revive Epstein, who reportedly hanged himself.

Epstein, 66, was not on suicide watch, even though on July 23 he was found in his cell with bruises on his neck that may have been a suicide attempt or the result of an assault.

The New York City Medical Examier's Office completed an autopsy on Sunday, but has not yet released the results.

At the MCC, two jail guards are required to make separate checks on all prisoners every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed overnight, according to a source. Guards are required to make another check every 15 minutes on prisoners who are on suicide watch.

A person familiar with the MCC's operations told The Associated Press on Sunday that one guard in Epstein's unit was working a fifth straight day of overtime and another was working mandatory overtime.

Also, the New York Post reported Sunday that no surveillance video captured Epstein's last minutes.

Epstein had been charged by federal prosecutors in New York of grooming teenage girls for sexual purposes. He jetted between opulent residences in Manhattan, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands.

"Today's events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein's many victims their day in court," Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. "Our investigation of the conduct charged in the indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing."

What makes the case intriguing to so many is that Epstein socialized with famous politicians and celebrities, including former president Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, Great Britain's Prince Andrew and lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

Some 2,000 pages of documents related to a since-settled case against Epstein by one of his accusers were made public by a federal appeals court on Friday.

Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and former US senator George Mitchell of Maine were mentioned in the documents. Both men denied any wrongdoing.

The news of Epstein's death fueled multiple conspiracy theories and made its way into the 2020 presidential election contest.

On Saturday, the president retweeted a message from comedian and commentator Terrence K. Williams, who said in part that Epstein "had information on Bill Clinton & now he's dead".

Cory Booker, a US senator from New Jersey and Democratic presidential candidate, said Trump's retweet was "just more recklessness".

"He is giving life to not just conspiracy theories but really whipping people up into anger and worse against different people in this country," he said on CNN.

The FBI and the Department of Justice's inspector general have opened investigations.

US Attorney General William Barr said he was "appalled" to learn of the death in federal custody.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congresswoman from New York City, tweeted: "We need answers. Lots of them."

White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said investigation of Epstein should continue despite his death.

More than a decade ago, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to charges of solicitation of prostitution from a minor in a deal with prosecutors that was widely criticized as too lenient.

Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on July 6, and pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls as young as 14, from 2002 to 2005.

A November expose by the The Miami Herald helped renew public pressure on Epstein.

Reuters contributed to this story.