Dec 19, 2019

Epstein surveillance video taken during first suicide attempt missing

Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: Rick Friedman/Getty Images

Prosecutors told a court Wednesday that surveillance footage recorded at the time of Jeffrey Epstein’s first apparent suicide attempt inside Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center has gone missing, the New York Daily News first reported.

Details: The revelation of the missing footage captured outside Epstein's cell emerged during a New York hearing of accused quadruple murderer Nick Tartaglione, who shared a cell with the convicted sex offender.

  • Tartaglione’s lawyer told the White Plains District Court that he had asked for the footage to be preserved to show that Tartaglione had behaved "appropriately and even admirably" on the night of the incident on July 23, per the New York Post.
  • The presiding judge "asked the government to look further into what happened to the footage," the Daily News notes.

The big picture: Epstein's death in one of the most secure jails in the U.S. has sparked criminal charges against the guards monitoring him.

  • Attorney General Bill Bar has said that Epstein's death was the result of "a perfect storm of screw-ups."

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Axios
Updated 4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 7 p.m. ET: 12,859,834 — Total deaths: 567,123 — Total recoveries — 7,062,085 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 7 p.m. ET: 3,297,501— Total deaths: 135,155 — Total recoveries: 1,006,326 — Total tested: 40,282,176 — Map.
  3. States: Florida smashes single-day record for new coronavirus cases with over 15,000 — NYC reports zero coronavirus deaths for first time since pandemic hit.
  4. Public health: Ex-FDA chief projects "apex" of South's coronavirus curve in 2-3 weeks — Coronavirus testing czar: Lockdowns in hotspots "should be on the table"
  5. Education: Betsy DeVos says schools that don't reopen shouldn't get federal funds — Pelosi accuses Trump of "messing with the health of our children."
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Jonathan Swan
4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: How the White House is trying to trap leakers

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

President Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has told several White House staffers he's fed specific nuggets of information to suspected leakers to see if they pass them on to reporters — a trap that would confirm his suspicions. "Meadows told me he was doing that," said one former White House official. "I don't know if it ever worked."

Why it matters: This hunt for leakers has put some White House staffers on edge, with multiple officials telling Axios that Meadows has been unusually vocal about his tactics. So far, he's caught only one person, for a minor leak.

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Jacob Knutson
7 hours ago - Politics & Policy

11 GOP congressional nominees support QAnon conspiracy

Lauren Boebert posing in her restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, on April 24. Photo: Emily Kask/AFP

At least 11 Republican congressional nominees have publicly supported or defended the QAnon conspiracy theory movement or some of its tenets — and more aligned with the movement may still find a way onto ballots this year.

Why it matters: Their progress shows how a fringe online forum built on unsubstantiated claims and flagged as a threat by the FBI is seeking a foothold in the U.S. political mainstream.

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