AP Sources: Epstein Jail Guards Had Been Offered Plea Deal

Federal prosecutors offered a plea deal to two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night of his death, but the officers have declined the offer, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.The existence of the plea offer signals the Justice Department is considering criminal charges in connection with the wealthy financier’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August. The city’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide.

The guards on Epstein’s unit are suspected of failing to check on him every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had. As part of the proposed plea deal, prosecutors wanted the guards to admit they falsified the prison records, according to the people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss the investigation.

Appeals court lets Trump resume White House ballroom construction, seeks lower court clarity

Stunning Visual of Oil Tanker Movements Shows How Well Trump’s Iran Chess Move Paid Off

Some Democrats pledge to get rid of funds donated by Swalwell’s leadership PAC, others remain silent

WATCH: Spanberger knocked for ‘bait and switch’ hypocrisy as popularity plummets amid redistricting fiasco

California Supreme Court Halts Investigation Into Ballots Seized by Local Sheriff

Trump gets McDonalds delivered by ‘DoorDash grandma’ to tout tax refunds

Federal Judge Throws Out Trump’s Epstein Birthday Letter Lawsuit – But the Fight Isn’t Over Yet

Whistleblower contacted Democrats before filing Trump complaint that led to first impeachment, records show

Obama CIA chief under DOJ scrutiny pushes fringe Trump ouster plan

Soros-backed prosecutor set for Capitol Hill grilling as sanctuary policies face reckoning

Trump-Impeaching GOP Senator Reportedly Melted Down Over Not Getting Enough Money

Gubernatorial candidate vows to pardon cop convicted of manslaughter in death of fleeing suspect

Bodies of two iron workers recovered from rubble of Philadelphia parking garage 5 days after partial collapse

Tennessee Lawmakers Walk Out of Prayer Against ‘White Christian Nationalism’

Trump’s ‘Blasphemous’ Post Draws Backlash from Christian Conservatives

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had no comment on the plea offer. Both guards were working overtime because of staffing shortages. They have been placed on administrative leave while the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general investigate the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death. The 66-year-old had been awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls. Epstein was placed on suicide watch after he was found on his cell floor July 23 with bruises on his neck. Multiple people familiar with operations at the jail have said Epstein was then taken off suicide watch about a week before his death, meaning he was less closely monitored but still supposed to be checked on every 30 minutes.

Epstein’s death exposed mounting evidence that the chronically understaffed Metropolitan Correctional Center may have bungled its responsibility to keep him alive. Guards often work overtime day after day, and other employees are pressed into service as correctional officers. Falsification of records has been a problem throughout the federal prison system. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, who was named director of the Bureau of Prisons after Epstein’s death, disclosed in a Nov. 4 internal memo that a review of operations across the agency found some staff members failed to perform required rounds and inmate counts but logged that they had done so anyway. “Falsification of information in government systems and documents is also a violation of policy, and may be subject to criminal prosecution as well,” Hawk Sawyer wrote in the memo to top prison officials, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.