DES MOINES, Iowa — White House hopefuls campaigning in Iowa are voicing their support for congressional hearings into billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide while in federal custody.
Although Democrats don’t control the upper chamber, Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota, said testimony could shed light on how Epstein may have been able to take his own life overnight at the Manhattan Correctional Center, where he was awaiting trial for charges of child sex trafficking next year. Last month, he had been found nearly unconscious on his cell floor with marks on his neck, but authorities never confirmed the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“I understand an investigation has been undertaken, and I think that investigation should occur,” Klobuchar told reporters Saturday at the Iowa State Fair, referring to the Department of Justice and FBI investigations announced in the morning.
“I think there will be further lawsuits and other things to figure out exactly what went on here,” the former prosecutor said. “The bad guy died, but I think there were other bad people involved in this as well. And I think we’ve got to, for the sake of the victims, we have to get to the bottom. Whether that involves a Senate hearing or not, it could, but I think for right now, we need an investigation.”
At the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’s Presidential Gun Sense Forum across town, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Epstein’s death was another example of the “system” breaking down, demanding an inquiry and further transparency regarding his “despicable” conduct.
‘The system broke down here,’ @SenWarren says of Epstein suicide. Wants investigation, says a full airing of accusations of his ‘despicable’ conduct was owed pic.twitter.com/31Fj1dHGzH
— David Siders (@davidsiders) August 10, 2019
Meanwhile, California Sen. Kamala Harris called for “oversight and accountability” but steered clear of taking a position on the prospect of congressional hearings.
From the House of Representatives, where Democrats have the majority, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan said, “We’ve got to continue the process.”
“If we have to do something in Congress to help bring that to light, we most certainly will, and I would encourage our leadership to do that,” he said. “I don’t know how this guy’s able to commit suicide in a federal prison. No idea how this happened. We’ll get those details. Easy way out as far as I can tell.”
The indictment against Epstein included allegations that he sexually exploited dozens of girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations, between at least 2002 and 2005. He had earlier served just 13 months of an 18-month sentence at a Palm Beach County jail after pleading guilty in 2008 to two state-level prostitution solicitation charges.
No official cause of death has been ruled yet.
