Former warden Cameron Lindsay, legal analyst Joe diGenova, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton and economist Steve Moore joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, August 12th, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C             JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S APPARENT SUICIDE:

• Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in an apparent suicide, federal officials said Saturday. Epstein, 66, was found unresponsive in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of Manhattan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan around 6:30 a.m. Jail staff tried to revive him, and then called for an ambulance.
• After autopsy, cause of Jeffrey Epstein’s death awaits ‘further information.’ The New York City medical examiner’s office said Sunday that it had completed an autopsy of the financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein but that it needed more information before determining the cause of death.
• Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement: “I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody. Mr. Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered. In addition to the FBI’s investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein’s death.”
• Prison experts are stunned and angry that Jeffrey Epstein was taken off suicide watch. (NBC News) — Even before his first suspected suicide try last month, Jeffrey Epstein was perhaps the most vulnerable man in the federal jail system: a wealthy and well-known financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. He was, by all accounts, the kind of inmate who should have been under the closest possible supervision. Instead, Epstein was taken off suicide watch in the days before he apparently took his own life, officials told NBC News, a decision that baffled former wardens and veterans of the federal prison system.
• DAILY MAIL: Jeffrey Epstein told guards weeks before he hanged himself that someone tried to KILL HIM: Questions mount over why billionaire pedophile was taken off suicide watch just as sex slave lawsuit named powerful friends including Prince Andrew. Jeffrey Epstein told prison guards and fellow inmates that he believed someone had tried to kill him in the weeks before his death, a source has revealed to com The insider, who had seen the disgraced financier on several occasions during his incarceration at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, also claims that the normally reserved Epstein seemed to be in good spirits. ‘There was no indication that he might try to take his own life,’ the source told DailyMail.com.
• Jeffrey Epstein was supposed to have been checked by guards every 30 minutes. That procedure was not followed the night before he was found hanging in his cell. Jeffrey Epstein was not being monitored in jail as directed before his death early Saturday, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the financier’s detention told The New York Times. Authorities said Epstein died of apparent suicide. He was in jail on sex-trafficking charges.  The law enforcement official told The Times Epstein was supposed to be checked by guards every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not being followed the night he was found dead in

5am –D/E      Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking victim named Bill Richardson, George Mitchell in newly released documents (Fox News) — A woman who has long claimed disgraced money man Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with powerful men named two prominent Democratic politicians – former Sen. George Mitchell and ex-New Mexico governor and Clinton cabinet official Bill Richardson – in documents unsealed Friday by federal prosecutors in New York. Friday’s revelations came from more than 2,000 documents that were unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The papers included affidavits and depositions of key witnesses in a lawsuit the now-33-year-old woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, filed against Epstein and his associate, Ghislane Maxwell in 2015. Giuffre accused the duo of keeping her as a “sex slave” in the early 2000s when she was underage.

6am – A/B/C   TRUMP’S RETWEET / VIEWER THEORIES

• Trump retweets post promoting conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein’s death: Terrence K. Williams @w_terrence: Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH ? Yeah right! How does that happen#JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he’s dead. I see #TrumpBodyCount trending but we know who did this! RT if you’re not Surprised #EpsteinSuicide #ClintonBodyCount #ClintonCrimeFamily
• Democrats blast Trump’s Epstein conspiracy theory retweet as Conway defends the president (The Hill) — White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday defended President Trump’s retweet of a conspiracy theory about the death of alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, while Trump’s critics and rivals blasted the retweets as irresponsible conspiracy-mongering. The Saturday night retweet implied former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton, who appears several times in flight logs for Epstein’s private jet, were responsible for Epstein’s death in federal custody, and uses the hashtag #ClintonBodyCount, referencing a conspiracy theory about the Clintons having political opponents murdered that dates back to the early 1990s. Conway minimized the retweet in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” saying “I think the president just wants everything to be investigated” and noted Epstein’s ties to figures like the former president and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D). She downplayed Trump’s own ties to Epstein, who was part of the same social circles in New York and Florida and was a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club before they reportedly fell out while competing for Florida real estate. Since Epstein’s arrest in New Jersey, Trump has claimed he was “never a fan.”
• Beto O’Rourke on President Trump’s conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein’s death: “This is another example of our President using this position of public trust to attack his political enemies with unfounded conspiracy theories”
• MSNBC’s Joy Reid suggests that Attorney General William Barr might be connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s death

6am – D INTERVIEW – CAMERON LINDSAY – a former warden who worked at three federal facilities – analyzed the prison’s handling of Epstein.

• Lindsay has over 30 years experience in the criminal justice field as a police officer, college instructor, and correctional administrator. He was a police officer for five years, taught criminal justice full-time and part-time at six colleges/universities, and worked 25 years in nine correctional facilities, both in the public and private sectors.  He was a member of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Senior Executive Service at the time of his retirement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  Over the course of his 25 years in corrections, he served as warden for 12 years at five facilities, including three prisons and two jails.
• Prison experts are stunned and angry that Jeffrey Epstein was taken off suicide watch. (NBC News) — Even before his first suspected suicide try last month, Jeffrey Epstein was perhaps the most vulnerable man in the federal jail system: a wealthy and well-known financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. He was, by all accounts, the kind of inmate who should have been under the closest possible supervision. Instead, Epstein was taken off suicide watch in the days before he apparently took his own life, officials told NBC News, a decision that baffled former wardens and veterans of the federal prison system. “For them to pull him off suicide watch is shocking,” Cameron Lindsay, a former warden who worked at three federal facilities, told NBC News. “For someone this high-profile, with these allegations and this many victims, who has had a suicide attempt in the last few weeks, you can take absolutely no chances.”

6am – E         ‘The Hunt’ canceled by Universal following significant backlash (Fox News) — Universal Pictures has canceled the September 27 release of the controversial movie “The Hunt,” in the wake of significant backlash over the film that depicts privileged vacationers hunting “deplorables” for sport. NBC’s Universal Pictures, which shares parent company Comcast with NBC News and MSNBC, told Fox News on Wednesday that the movie’s marketing campaign would be “temporarily paused” on the heels of the tragic mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and Gilroy, California. At that time, it had no plans to shelf the movie itself. But in a statement released to Fox News on Saturday, a Universal Pictures spokesperson said: “While Universal Pictures had already paused the marketing campaign for The Hunt, after thoughtful consideration, the studio has decided to cancel our plans to release the film. “We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release this film.” According to a source, “Universal insiders feel that doing the right thing was more important than releasing the movie because of the current climate.”

6 AM – F        Miley Cyrus seen kissing Brody Jenner’s ex amid Liam Hemsworth split (Fox News) — Miley Cyrus was spotted smooching Brody Jenner’s ex, Kaitlynn Carter, the same day her rep announced her separation from husband Liam Hemsworth. Photos obtained by Entertainment Tonight show Cyrus, 26, and Carter, 30, cuddling, kissing and swimming together in Lake Como, Italy, where they’re currently vacationing with Cyrus’ big sister Brandi. In one photo, Carter’s hand is on Cyrus’ derriere inside of her bikini bottom. A spy told the outlet, “They were not trying to hide it at all. There were other people sitting by the pool.” The witness also added, “They were fully on a date, getting drinks, just the two of them. They even got a couple of massages at the hotel.” The photos were released mere hours before Cyrus’ rep confirmed the “Mother’s Daughter” singer and Hemsworth, 29, had called time on their eight-month marriage.

7AM – A/B/C  INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – WMAL legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – discussed the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein and his thoughts on Ohr’s “302” report.

• Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in an apparent suicide, federal officials said Saturday. Epstein, 66, was found unresponsive in his cell in the Special Housing Unit of Manhattan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan around 6:30 a.m. Jail staff tried to revive him, and then called for an ambulance.
• Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement: “I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody. Mr. Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered. In addition to the FBI’s investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein’s death.”
• Judicial Watch: FBI 302 Interviews with Bruce Ohr on Spygate Released To Judicial Watch — Judicial Watch released 34 pages of “302” report material from FBI interviews with Bruce Ohr, who was removed from his position as U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General in December 2017. The newly declassified documents were produced to Judicial Watch this evening. These documents were obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the Justice Department for failing to respond to an August 6, 2018 FOIA request seeking Form 302s for a number of interviews with Ohr concerning his interactions with Steele (Judicial Watch v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-02107)). A Form 302 is used by FBI agents to summarize the interviews that they conduct and contains information from the notes taken during the interview.

7AM – D/E INTERVIEW – TOM FITTON – President of Judicial Watch (IN STUDIO) – discussed the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein and Judicial Watch’s report on Ohr’s 302s.

• Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in an apparent suicide, federal officials said Saturday.
• Judicial Watch: FBI 302 Interviews with Bruce Ohr on Spygate Released To Judicial Watch

8 AM – A  INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE –  former campaign economic advisor to President Trump, economist at The Heritage Foundation and author of book “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy”

• Donald Trump tweets China wants a trade deal ‘so badly’, ahead of next round of talks in Washington: Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: China wants to make a deal so badly. Thousands of companies are leaving because of the Tariffs, they must stem the flow. At the same time China may be hoping for a Democrat to win so they could continue the great ripoff of America, & the theft of hundreds of Billions of $’s! 5:58 PM – Aug 10, 2019

8 AM – B/C  2020 DEMS DESCEND ON IOWA:

• Democrats descend on Iowa — with renewed anxiety (Washington Post) — As Democrats descend on Iowa to kick off a six-month sprint to the first primary vote, party activists are increasingly anxious that former vice president Joe Biden, the consistent polling leader, has not disposed of persistent questions about whether he is well-equipped to take on President Trump. Adding to the Democrats’ nervousness is that a clear alternative has yet to emerge. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) is rising in the polls and has a high-quality campaign organization, but doubts linger in some quarters about the appeal of her left-leaning policies in a general election. Sens. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are struggling to maintain momentum, while pressure is growing from frustrated voters for many of the weaker candidates to drop out. That shaky landscape is prolonging the uncertainty in a nominating contest that Democrats describe as the most important of their lifetimes, and it puts the party in the unusual situation of having a leader who draws on a deep well of affection but also gives a lot of people in the party jitters.
• Joe Biden on the Second Amendment: No amendment is ‘absolute’ (Washington Examiner) — Joe Biden is calling for a cultural shift around how the country thinks about gun ownership. “The Second Amendment — no amendment is in fact absolute,” Biden told the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’s Presidential Gun Sense Forum Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. “You cannot stand up in this hall and yell fire. That’s not freedom of speech because they know the consequence of yelling fire: There’ll be a stampede, and someone will get hurt,” the former vice president said.
• Biden Claims He Was Vice President During 2018 Parkland Shooting.

• Kamala Harris posted a video to Twitter of her eating a porkchop at the Iowa State Fair, then pandered to wish Muslim voters “Eid Mubarak” a few minutes later: Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris: Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating #EidAlAdha across the country and around the world. 3:52 PM – Aug 11, 2019

8am – D INTERVIEW – CAMERON LINDSAY – a former warden who worked at three federal facilities – analyzed the prison’s handling of Epstein.