Epstein was not murdered and had no ‘client list', FBI investigation finds
The two-page document, obtained by Axios, states that no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison in which Epstein was being held on the night he died in 2019.
It supports the medical examiner's conclusion that the financier committed suicide, contradicting widespread speculation, particularly amongst allies of Donald Trump, that he was killed to protect others.
Some of those theories had been advanced by Kash Patel and Dan Bongino – now the FBI's director and deputy director – who have since backtracked on their claims.
Elon Musk, who last month claimed that Mr Trump was named in the Epstein files, reacted angrily to reports of the FBI's findings, writing on X: 'This is the final straw.'
Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican congresswoman from Florida, wrote: 'This is not what we or the American people asked for and a complete disappointment. Get us the information we asked for!'
The memo also makes it clear that no further individuals will face charges in connection to the case. Epstein's former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking.
The Maga-aligned Right have for years demanded more information about the death of Epstein, with many believing that Mr Patel's appointment would lead to more files being published.
'Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the paedophiles are,' Mr Patel said in 2023, urging the FBI to release Epstein's 'client list' during an interview on pro-Trump influencer Benny Johnson's YouTube show.
Mr Bongino, then a conservative podcaster, also repeatedly told listeners not to lose interest in the Epstein case.
But since taking office, both men have dismissed the conspiracies. Earlier this year, Mr Bongino said: 'He killed himself. I've seen the whole file. He killed himself.'
After his comments, the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accused him of betrayal, declaring: 'They're making fools out of themselves.
The department of justice says in the memo that no 'further disclosure' of Epstein-related material is 'appropriate or warranted'.
It adds: 'Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography.'
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Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Monster' who abused fiancée Kiena Dawes before she took her own life is arrested behind bars alongside mother and new lover on suspicion they 'coached him to give evidence'
A controlling 'monster' locked up for abusing his fiancée before she took her own life and blamed him 'from beyond the grave' was arrested alongside his mother and new girlfriend, the Daily Mail can reveal. Ryan Wellings, 31, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in January after he was convicted of subjecting new mother Kiena Dawes, 23, to years of sickening domestic abuse and brutal violence. Ms Dawes took her own life on July 22 2022 and wrote in her suicide note that she was 'murdered', adding: 'Ryan Wellings killed me... He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I didn't deserve it. I didn't ask for it.' In a case which sparked nationwide debate, Wellings became the first defendant in England to face trial for the unlawful killing of his partner after her suicide following domestic violence. Wellings, a landscape gardener from Bispham, Lancashire, was convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour - but cleared of manslaughter. In a final insult to Ms Dawes and her family, the unrepentant abuser blew a kiss to his new girlfriend, Emma Croft, as the verdict was read out. The Daily Mail can reveal that Wellings, his mother Lisa Green, and Ms Croft were all arrested for allegedly perverting the course of justice. Ms Green and Ms Croft were released under investigation, while Wellings was hauled back behind bars while inquiries continue. The trial at Preston Crown Court heard how 28-year-old Ms Croft, from Blackpool, and 52-year-old Ms Green, from Bispham, had allegedly been 'coaching' Wellings to give evidence. Wellings made a series of 'calls' to the pair who had both attended the trial to support him from the public gallery. The abuser, while being held at HMP Preston, was entitled to speak to family and friends but was not legally permitted to discuss his case with them while giving evidence. But the prosecution said it was made aware of calls made where evidence was allegedly being discussed between them. Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC told the court in January: 'He has repeatedly discussed the content and nature of the evidence with Emma Croft and Lisa Green, during giving evidence and over the Christmas period. 'The assessment of the prosecution is that the defendant has misconducted himself, as has Lisa Green and Emma Croft. 'What has occurred here is effectively a scheme to coach the defendant in the evidence he's giving. 'There's going to be an investigation into this by the police because, on the face of it, there's been a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.' A spokesman for Lancashire Police has now confirmed to the Daily Mail: 'A 28-year-old woman from Blackpool, a 52-year-old woman from Bispham and a 31-year-old man of no fixed address were arrested on suspicion of committing an act / series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice. 'The women have been released under investigation while enquiries continue and the man has been released back into the custody of the prison service while enquiries continue.' The date of their arrests were not disclosed by police. We revealed in February how Wellings had proposed to Ms Croft in a letter he left with Ms Green before the jury's verdict. Following the trial, Ms Croft agreed to 'step down' from her job at a beauty salon in Blackpool after the owner found the controversy surrounding her alleged involvement in the case was harming business. But she stunned friends by telling them she will 'stick by' Wellings and has accepted his 'proposal', vowing to wait for him until his release. One friend told the Daily Mail: 'She keeps telling everyone they don't really know the real Ryan, but she's in complete denial. 'The idea that she would even consider walking down the aisle with someone like him, having heard what was said in court, is quite incredible.' Another former friend of Ms Croft's said that she was 'completely in thrall' to Wellings and 'in denial' about the nature of his personality. 'She's got this fairytale view of him, but it's caused so much bad feeling in Blackpool,' said the friend. 'The owner of the salon where she worked has had enough of the bad publicity and threatening messages, so she asked Emma to step down and she agreed.' In a Facebook post, The Powder Room salon announced in February: 'Please Read. In regards to recent media coverage, we would like to inform our client that Emma Croft no longer works at The Powder Room. 'We ask that others are kind and respectful towards all staff who work hard to make our salon an inviting place and have nothing to do with the situation that has arisen. 'Police are aware of recent media comments and are staying in close contact with the owners of the salon. Thank you.' Daily Mail approached Wellings's mother Ms Green but she denied that her son was engaged to Ms Croft in February. The trial heard how Wellings repeatedly lashed out at Ms Dawes, beating her while she was pregnant with his child, as well as threatening to drown her in a bath, drill her teeth and 'make her look like Katie Piper' by dousing her with acid. He also urged Ms Dawes to kill herself, boasted that 'hitting you is like hitting a man' and, on one occasion, forced her head underwater in a bath and said: 'Say goodbye to your baby'. In one incident just 11 days before Ms Dawes's death, on July 11 2022, he 'launched' her into a radiator with such force it broke the appliance off the wall, then slammed a door in her face - knocking her out and leaving her with blood pouring from her head. She called police at least five times reporting domestic problems with Wellings. 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Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Sick sci-fi sex fantasy written by Epstein's first benefactor people say inspired his twisted island... before author's SON ended up arresting him
An obscure 1970s sci-fi novel — packed with graphic depictions of teenage sex slaves, breeding clinics, and aristocratic rapists — is suddenly one of the most talked-about books on the internet. Conspiracy theorists have drawn eerie parallels between its disturbing plot and Jeffrey Epstein 's real-world sex trafficking ring. The book in question, Space Relations: A Slightly Gothic Interplanetary Tale, published in 1973 by Donald Barr — a former headmaster of a New York City prep school and father of Trump-era Attorney General Bill Barr — has found itself at the heart of a tangled web of online controversy. Fueling the speculation is the fact that Donald Barr, a former CIA officer, once served as headmaster at the prestigious Dalton School on the Upper East Side, where Jeffrey Epstein taught in the mid-1970s, despite lacking a college degree. Though Donald Barr had stepped down by the time Epstein was hired, conspiracy theorists have seized on the timing, the lurid novel, and his son Bill Barr's role in Epstein's 2019 death in custody — as proof of a sinister connection. 'The Internet is abuzz with many bizarre theories,' reviewer Justin Tate posted on Goodreads about the 250-page book, which is now being sold online for as much as $4,000 a copy. 'Some read Space Relations like it's the Da Vinci Code, with hidden clues that might even reveal who killed Epstein. Others marvel over loose connections between Barr's plot and Epstein's crimes.' What has most stunned readers is how eerily similar the fictional universe is to the real-life sex trafficking empire run by Epstein, who abused scores of underage girls in New York, Palm Beach and his now-infamous private island. The plot of Space Relations follows John Craig, an Earth diplomat captured and enslaved on a distant planet called Kossar, where the ruling aristocracy maintains a brutal regime of sexual domination and forced breeding. Craig ultimately becomes a servant to Lady Morgan Sidney, a sadistic elite described as having 'high breasts and long thighs', and is compelled to rape a teenage slave girl as part of an intergalactic breeding clinic. Critics have called the book 'cheesy', 'bad writing' and 'incredibly creepy' — but that hasn't stopped a cult following from forming among collectors, conspiracy theorists, and critics of America's ruling class, who say the novel reads more like a disturbing prophecy than fiction. Just one year after Space Relations hit shelves, Donald Barr was headmaster at Dalton. In 1974, Epstein, then a college dropout in his early 20s with no teaching qualifications, landed a job there teaching math and physics. His brief stint at the school is widely seen as the springboard for his later social climbing — and grooming. It's never been definitively confirmed that Donald Barr personally hired Epstein. But it's that foggy link — between the bizarre content of the novel, Epstein's inexplicable employment, and Bill Barr's involvement decades later — that has sent the internet into a frenzy. Following Epstein's death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August 2019, then-Attorney General Bill Barr promised a full investigation, calling the circumstances a 'perfect storm of screw-ups' — including non-functioning security cameras and asleep guards. He ultimately accepted the ruling of suicide, despite widespread doubts and calls for deeper scrutiny. Recently, conservative YouTube host Tucker Carlson featured a segment exploring the connections, interviewing controversial history podcaster Darryl Cooper, who called the coincidences 'very strange and unacceptable'. Cooper questioned Bill Barr's motives for dismissing Epstein's death as a 'suicide before they'd finished the investigation.' Donald Barr's son, Bill, came under fire for his handling of the Epstein suicide investigation when he was President Donald Trump's Attorney General in 2019 'It could all be a coincidence, but the odds are against that,' said Cooper. The claims have been debunked by fact-checkers, including Snopes, which labeled the theories 'mostly false.' There is no proof Donald Barr, who died in 2004, played a role in Epstein's hiring, nor are there strong similarities between the fictional interplanetary sex ring in Space Relations and Epstein's real-life criminal enterprise. Still, for a novel that once gathered dust on the back shelves of second-hand bookstores, Space Relations has found a strange second life — not as science fiction, but as the focus of one of the strangest conspiracies of the post-Epstein era. 1999 - Virginia Roberts Giuffre is allegedly recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to became Epstein's 'sex slave,' at 17. She also claimed that he forced her to have sex with his friend Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth. 2002 - Trump tells New York Magazine that his friend Epstein 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' 2005 - A 14-year-old girl tells police that Epstein molested her at his Palm Beach mansion. May 2006 - Epstein and two of his associates are charged with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor. State attorney of the time Barry Krischer, referred the case to a grand jury who heard from just two of the 12 girls law enforcement had gathered as potential witnesses. They returned just one single count of soliciting prostitution. July 2006 - The case is referred to the FBI by the Florida Palm Beach police who were unhappy with how the case was handled. 2007 - Epstein's lawyers meet with Miami's top federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta, who would later become the Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration. They secretly negotiate the 'deal of a lifetime'. June 2008 - After pleading guilty to two prostitution charges, the millionaire was sentenced to 18 months in a low-security prison in exchange for prosecutors ending their investigation into his sex acts with minors and give him immunity from future prosecution related to those charges. In reality, Epstein was able to work from his office six days a week while supposedly incarcerated at the jail. July 2008 - Accusers learned of the deal for the first time. July 2009 - Epstein is released from jail five months early. July 2018 - The Miami Herald publishes investigative journalist Julie K. Brown's exposé on Epstein's long history of alleged sexual abuse and news of the 'deal of a lifetime' after Acosta was made Labor Secretary. February 2019 - The justice department opens an internal review into Epstein's plea deal. July 7, 2019 - Epstein is arrested after his private jet lands at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport from Paris. At the same time, federal agents break into his Manhattan townhouse where they uncovered hundreds of photographs of naked minors. July 8, 2019 - Epstein is charged with sex trafficking charges which detail how he created a network of underage girls in Florida and New York, paying girls as young as 14 to provide 'massages and sex acts.' The charges carry a sentence of up to 45 years in prison. July 11, 2019 - More than a dozen women, not previously known to law enforcement, came forward to accuse him of sex abuse. July 24 - Epstein was found unconscious in his cell after an apparent suicide attempt. He was moved to suicide watch at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. August 9, 2019 - More than 2,000 documents are unsealed which reveal the lurid allegations against Epstein in detail.
The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Forged signatures listed on New York City mayor's re-election campaign petition
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