Legal experts ‘dumfounded’ by Epstein’s ‘unfathomable’ suicide on DOJ’s watch

News of Jeffrey Epstein’s death by apparent suicide on Saturday sparked a wave of conspiracy theories — including one amplified by President Donald Trump that attempted to link Epstein's death to former President Bill Clinton (without evidence, of course).

But while the conspiracy theories are just those, legal experts — from former federal prosecutors to law scholars — are likewise “dumbfounded” by Epstein’s death, particularly after it was revealed Epstein was not on suicide watch during his apparent suicide.

Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst who served as the assistant attorney general for the South District of New York, said he “can’t recall any suicides” at the [Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York]” during his time as a prosecutor.

Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor for the SDNY, couldn’t “recall one either.”

Harvard legal scholar Laurence Tribe said it’s “inexcusable that [Epstein] was taken off suicide watch.” He also demanded Attorney General Bill Barr recuse himself from the investigation into why Epstein was removed from suicide watch.

“We have to ask who stood to gain from his permanent silence?” Tribe added. “Whom could he have incriminated in an effort to win favorable treatment from the Trump Justice Department?”

Lawyer Harry Litman, in an article for the Washington Post, called Epstein’s suicide “unfathomable."