Sen. Ben Sasse sent a letter to the head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons telling her to “come prepared” with answers regarding the death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Epstein’s death makes it significantly harder to prosecute his co-conspirators,” the Nebraska Republican said in a letter dated Wednesday to Kathleen Hawk Sawyer. “Wealthy and powerful men raped innocent children, and it is an outrage that so much of the evidence of these crimes died with Epstein while in your agency’s custody.”
Sasse noted in the letter that he had already asked “basic and urgent questions” regarding the financial mogul’s death, but that “we’re still in the dark about what happened to Epstein.” The senator argued that “Americans deserve answers” to the question and that Sawyer should come to the Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with “substantial answers.”
“To pretend like this issue, which is by far the public’s top concern with your agency, won’t be a significant focus of attention at this hearing is naïve — to the point of being laughable,” Sasse wrote. “While there may be particular details that you cannot yet answer, deflecting difficult questions won’t cut it.”
Controversy has surrounded the death of Epstein in his New York prison cell on Aug. 10. The New York chief medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, but Epstein’s brother hired famed pathologist and former New York medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden, who did his own autopsy report. According to him, the autopsy results were more consistent with “homicidal strangulation” than suicide.
Baden claimed the only evidence that Epstein killed himself was one photograph that looked staged. Investigators have not made quelling conspiracy theories any easier by refusing to release documents related to Epstein’s death.
Sasse, 47, has been the leader in the Senate demanding answers after Epstein’s death. The same day as Epstein’s apparent suicide, the Nebraska Republican sent a furious letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding that “heads” roll over the incident.
“It should have been abundantly clear that Epstein would go to any lengths to avoid being held accountable for his crimes, including by killing himself,” he said. “Being responsible for Epstein’s custody and protection, the Department of Justice should not have allowed this to happen.”
Sasse said in his most recent letter that he wants “a public account” next week of “what went wrong.”
