Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, one of the loudest critics of the federal prison system in the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell death, shamed the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons for a lack of transparency.
“With all due respect, you still have an obligation to speak to the girls who were raped by this guy today,” Sasse told Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer during a hearing Tuesday. “You may not speak about the specifics of the charges against those two guards this morning who were taken into custody, but more broadly, you should be able to unpack: Have we changed any processes about how cases like this are handled? It’s been more than 90 days.”
Sen. @BenSasse to Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Sawyer regarding Jeffrey Epstein: “You still have an obligation to speak to the girls who were raped by this guy…do we have a lot of people who sleep on the job when they’re supposed to be guarding federal inmates?” pic.twitter.com/yXDcK9fcH6
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 19, 2019
A New York City medical examiner ruled Epstein, a wealthy financier who was convicted on prostitution charges in 2008 and was awaiting trial for preying upon young women and exploiting them in a sex trafficking ring, killed himself earlier this year. Since his death, conspiracy theorists have wondered if Epstein, who was closely associated with some of the most powerful people in the world, was murdered.
News on Tuesday of charges against two prison guards responsible for watching Epstein in his prison cell at the time of his death may have fanned those flames.
“Heads needed to roll the day Jeffrey Epstein died. The Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice need to start giving the public some answers,” Sasse said after the arrests. “These guards aren’t the only ones who should stand trial — every one of Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators should be spending the rest of their lives behind bars.”
Sasse has singled himself out in a growing chorus of lawmakers urging federal law enforcement, including Attorney General William Barr, to investigate the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death and bring closure to his victims.
“How widespread is the problem of sleeping on the job?” he asked. “There are lots of people in the public who think this seems a very convenient excuse, and so tell us: is it a systemic problem? Do we have a lot of people who sleep on the job when they’re supposed to be guarding federal inmates?”
