<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former US Attorney General Bill Barr has outlined the reasons he believes Jeffrey Epstein almost certainly took his own life, undercutting unfounded theories that swirled after the child sex offender's death during a deposition with House investigators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr didn't believe it was possible, he said, for someone to get into the convicted sex offender's jail cell without being captured on security camera footage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"For me, the video was the icing on the cake," Barr said in recent testimony with House investigators.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There was a lot of evidence about, you know, his state of mind and other physical evidence pointing to suicide and also testimonial and records pointing to this."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/robert-redford-dead-actor-director-activist-dies-aged-89/9427ebcd-1d60-46e9-98be-99ae9a1d375a" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Hollywood heartthrob Robert Redford dies, aged 89</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jail also had recordings and guards in place that didn't detect anyone entering Epstein's jail cell.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was my judgment, from what I saw on the camera and what I looked at, I didn't think it was possible for someone to get up to the tier and open the door without being picked up in the camera," he said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/it-was-undoubtedly-suicide-former-us-attorney-general-squashes-epstein-conspiracy-theories/a223f3a4-6a89-4d84-851c-c2d243de1581" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr was serving as attorney general under the Trump administration when Epstein died in a cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The transcript of Barr's deposition marks the first made public by Rep. James Comer's House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the late convicted sex offender's case. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The panel had subpoenaed Barr along with other high-profile former Justice Department officials and Democrats in August as it ramped up its probe amid a growing outcry for more transparency related to Epstein's case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr, in his deposition, said he was aware that Epstein had been on suicide watch prior to his death, adding: "I found out afterward that, you know, his lawyers had been pressing hard for him to be let out of suicide watch."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr also sent an inspector general to look into the death. "Virtually every day I found out more information," he told the committee behind closed doors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It became clearer and clearer to me that it was undoubtedly suicide."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><strong><span>Breaking the news to Trump</span></strong></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr also recounted in his testimony how he informed President Donald Trump of Epstein's death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I called [the president] up and said, 'You better brace for this,' and I told him words to that effect, and I told him about it and told him we were going to be investigating it very vigorously," said Barr.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He had the same reaction I did, which was, 'How the hell did that happen, he's in federal custody?'"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr testified that he had spoken twice about the financier with Trump, who at the time was in his first term and had appointed Barr attorney general.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In one conversation, Barr said, Trump "said something to the effect that he had broken off with Epstein long ago and that he had actually pushed him out of Mar-a-Lago," when the sex trafficking defendant came up in conversation with a group of people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barr said he couldn't remember exactly when that conversation happened.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The other time the two men spoke about Epstein was when Barr informed Trump of the man's death, the former attorney general told House investigators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><strong><span>House panel asks Epstein estate for more information</span></strong></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a letter released Tuesday, Comer also requested more information from Epstein's estate, including unredacted cash ledgers, message logs, calendars and flight logs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Comer told attorneys for Epstein's estate that committee staff had the opportunity to review the materials in person, but wanted their own copies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Comer wrote that the six ledgers contain tens of thousands of individual payments, and some "raise serious questions," particularly the payments that went to known survivors with the message line "massage" or "gift."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 200 pages and digital spreadsheet of Epstein's missed messages also "clearly indicated criminal behaviour," Comer alleged.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The chairman cited one note that stated: "She is wondering if 2:30 is ok cuz she needs to stay in school." Another note referenced in the letter read: "[Named Co-Conspirator] hasn't confirmed [Female 1] for 11:00 yet, so she is keeping [Female 2] on hold in case [Female 1] doesn't call back."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The requested calendars, according to Comer, include about 1,500 pages of communications detailing Epstein's activities, including meetings with a number of high-profile people long known to be associated with Epstein. Comer said the calendars, which also included phone calls and travel, had redactions for "unspecified 'privileged information' with no accompanying explanation as to what privilege was asserted."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Flight logs being sought by the committee, meanwhile, comprise of about 3,500 pages of logs that detailed "departure, arrival, time, and manifest information of thousands of flights taken by Mr. Epstein, Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, associates, survivors, and others," according to the letter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The estate has already produced two batches of documents as the result of a subpoena, including more documents that the Oversight Committee released Tuesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The panel has withdrawn the subpoenas for former Attorneys General Alberto Gonzalez and Jeff Sessions, a committee aide told CNN, after both men swore in letters to the committee that neither possessed any information related to the committee's investigation into Epstein.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Multicultural Mental Health Australia</span></strong><span> </span><a href="http://www.mmha.org.au/" title="http://www.mmha.org.au/"><strong><span>www.mmha.org.au</span></strong></a><strong><span>.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available from the</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>at</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/" title="https://www.1800respect.org.au/"><strong><span>1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)</span></strong></a><strong><span>.</span></strong></div></div>