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New Epstein Records Spark Calls From Democratic Senators To Replace Bureau Of Prisons Director

JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

Michael Ginsberg Congressional Correspondent
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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are renewing calls for the firing of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) director who oversaw the security lapses that culminated in the alleged suicide of billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

“This isn’t a one-time issue. Even under the Biden Admin, BOP continues to stonewall to cover up incompetence. BOP Dir. [Michael] Carvajal must be replaced,” they tweeted Wednesday, citing new records published by the New York Times (NYT). In the last days of his life, Epstein reportedly denied having an interest in killing himself, despite displaying suicidal tendencies, offered investment advice to fellow inmates, and misrepresented a phone call he made to a girlfriend. He was reportedly left alone the night he died, despite having been repeatedly evaluated out of concerns of suicide.

The Democrats describe these failures, as well as simple prison log mistakes describing Epstein as black and not a sex offender, as “incompetence and sloppiness.” They have previously called for the removal of Carvajal, who was appointed BOP director by then-Attorney General (AG) Bill Barr in 2020. The BOP director can only be removed by the Attorney General. (RELATED: British Police Open Review Of Sex Trafficking Allegations Against Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell That Weren’t Fully Investigated)

The statement marks the second time in a month that Senate Democrats have called for Carvajal’s firing. After an Associated Press report found that BOP employees commit the most crimes out of any federal officials, including sexual assault and drug trafficking, Chairman and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin urged AG Merrick Garland to fire Carvajal and replace him “with a reform-minded Director who is not a product of the BOP bureaucracy.”

Epstein’s girlfriend and alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell will face trial in the last week of November for sex trafficking charges. Four women who claim to have been trafficked by Maxwell and Epstein will testify against her.

Due to Epstein’s stature, as well as the prominence of people for whom he allegedly procured women, some have claimed that he did not really kill himself, but was instead murdered. Epstein’s fellow inmates, however, cast doubt on that assertion.

“Jeffrey Epstein definitely killed himself. Any conspiracy theories to the contrary are ridiculous,” one inmate reportedly said.