Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, director of the Bureau of Prisons, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that the FBI is investigating whether or not a “criminal enterprise” played some role in Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in August.
Also on Tuesday, two correctional officers tasked with watching Epstein the day he died were charged with falsifying prison records, the Miami Herald reports.
The indictment of the guards — Tova Noel and Michael Thomas — states that the duo “repeatedly signed false certifications attesting to having conducted multiple counts of inmates when, in truth and in fact, they never conducted such counts.”
At the hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) commented “with a case this high profile, there has got to be either a major malfunction of the system or a criminal enterprise afoot to allow this to happen.”
“So are you looking at both? Is the FBI looking at both?” he asked.
Sawyer replied “the FBI is involved and they are looking at criminal enterprise, yes.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also questioned Sawyer, asking the agency head if there was “any indication” that Epstein was murdered.
“There’s no indication, from anything I know, that it was anything other than a suicide,” Sawyer answered.
Since Epstein’s Aug. 10 death was ruled a suicide, conspiracy theories have swirled questioning whether Epstein committed suicide or was murdered.