Further information about Jeffry Epstein's "suicide" has only increased the confusion.

If the Jeffry Epstein death were a screenplay, it would be rejected for being completely implausible.  Every aspect of this incident does not make sense.

When your credibility is lost or damaged, the normal response is to attempt to regain it by being extremely scrupulous about matters of truth.  The government has not responded in that fashion.  One implausible announcement is followed by another.

The latest announcements deal with the "lost" prison videos.  Authorities claim they "lost" the first prison video of the supposed first jail suicide attempt by Epstein.  They also claimed they "lost" the second suicide video earlier, and that was the one where Epstein "succeeded."  Authorities claim that the footage contained on the preserved video during his first "suicide" attempt was for the correct date and time but captured a different cell.  They were "misled" by a computer system that listed Nicholas Tartaglione's cell incorrectly.  This first "attempt" took place when Epstein's cellmate was Tartaglione, a former police officer charged with murdering four people.  The decision to pair Epstein with a homicidal bodybuilder is suspicious.

Epstein reportedly claimed he did not attempt suicide, but was attacked by Tartaglione.  Tartaglione's lawyer, Bruce Barket, wanted to view this video.  He remarked, "It is mind-boggling to me that they would have preserved the wrong video, and erased the real video."  The Metropolitan Correctional Center's video backup system has also not been working. 

Jeffry Epstein was possibly to most notorious domestic criminal in decades.  There is little doubt that many powerful people would not like to have him reveal what he knew about them.  Yet the two prison officials responsible for monitoring him during the night of his death have been charged with falsifying documents, claiming they checked on him when they didn't.  Perhaps they were not concerned about losing their jobs and did not consider the fact that they could be prosecuted if anything went wrong.

News reports frequently mention that Epstein "allegedly raped and trafficked dozens of women."  There are no allegations.  Jeffrey Epstein was convicted for solicitation and procurement of minors for prostitution.  That is child sex-trafficking.  He received a ridiculously lenient sentence for this, apparently because the prosecuting attorney was informed that Epstein was working with the Intelligence Community.  Who told Alexander Acosta that Epstein was working with the Intelligence Community?  It would also be interesting to know which intelligence community.  Epstein's former colleague Steven Hoffenberg claimed he was working for the Israeli Mossad.  A blackmail operation controlled by the Mossad would give an entirely different perspective to this case.

There are no flight logs for Epstein's Manhattan townhouse.  There is no record of who visited there except for possible videotapes that have not been made public.  If Epstein was as effective as he appears to have been, he would have targeted prominent politicians.  So far, only former Senate majority leader George Mitchell and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson have been mentioned.

The U.S. Congress has admitted paying $17 million to settle sexual harassment cases.  This is only a small fraction of what they have actually paid out.  Epstein would have been negligent if he had not tapped into this vast pool of powerful men.

Everything about the Epstein case contributes to cynicism regarding the incompetence and moral degeneracy of our elites.  Many people believe that corruption and incompetence are the norm.  Information provided by the government and the media is viewed with skepticism, including all the information this article has relied upon.  If people cannot trust their source of information, they are unable to make responsible decisions.  The government should be conducting a thorough and objective investigation of this entire incident.  However, it does not appear interested.

Epstein's death was ruled a suicide by Dr. Barbara Sampson, New York City's chief medical examiner.  Former New York City medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden said Epstein's injuries were more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicide by hanging.  One does not need to be a forensic pathologist to see that the wounds on Jeffry Epstein's neck do not appear to match the bedsheet he supposedly hanged himself with.

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing).  He has a Master of Arts degree in international relations from St. Mary's University.  He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

Image: CBS Evening News via YouTube.