A newly uncovered 2020 email, purportedly from the Justice Department during President Donald Trump's first administration, is drawing renewed scrutiny after referring to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's death as a "murder" investigation.
The email, released amid the DOJ's disclosure of roughly 3.5 million Epstein-related documents, appears to show a federal prosecutor describing Epstein's death as a "murder," despite the medical examiner's official ruling that it was a suicide.
The sender and recipient are both redacted in the email dated June 11, 2020. The sender identifies as "an AUSA in EDNY," indicating an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
"I'm an AUSA in EDNY and am working on an investigation into the death of an inmate at the Brooklyn MDC," the email begins.
"The [Office of the Chief Medical Examiner] told me that it signed a confidentiality agreement in connection with the investigation into the murder of Jeffrey Epstein."
The prosecutor asked whether a similar confidentiality agreement could be extended and requested a copy of the earlier agreement.
"We were hoping to extend a similar agreement and I wanted to see if you could share the agreement (or a boilerplate version of it). I'm happy to speak over the phone if that's easier," the email states.
Epstein was found dead Aug. 10, 2019, in his cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Six days later, New York City Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson ruled the death a suicide by hanging.
The case has long fueled public skepticism, particularly after it was revealed that security cameras malfunctioned and guards failed to conduct required rounds the night Epstein died.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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