For the liberal media, conspiracy theories are fine so long as they’re the stuff of liberal fairy tales. MSNBC’s Hardball illustrated that point on Tuesday night as MSNBC legal analyst Paul Butler wildly asserted that, since Donald Trump was President and Bill Barr was Attorney General, the two have, “in some ways...facilitated [Jeffrey] Epstein's suicide.”
Host Chris Matthews certainly wasn’t expecting that when, after introducing Butler, he complained about Trump’s “chutzpah to just say — to throw out Bill Clinton and try to trash his name into this mess” regarding Clinton’s closeness with Epstein.
Butler asserted that “Donald Trump is trying to deflect” and defended Clinton by suggesting that Trump and Clinton have similar relationships with Epstein when it comes to their social lives and trips on Epstein’s private plane (the latter of which is false).
Then came the tin-foil hat claim that would have made AM Joy host Joy Reid happy: “The fact is that Mr. Epstein took his own life. He died while he was in the custody of the Trump administration. Bill Barr directs the Bureau of Prisons, and they allowed, in some ways, they facilitated Mr. Epstein's suicide.”
As he’s done on occasion when guests act too crazy for even him, Matthews stepped in to chastise Butler (click “expand”):
MATTHEWS: Well, that's not fair. What do you mean facilitated?
BUTLER: Well, again, they were on notice that he wanted to take his own life.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
BUTLER: He was on suicide watch.
MATTHEWS: Well, what do you make of pulling back, not having the guards there? What about not doing the half hour — on the half hour checking of him, make sure he had a cellmate who could watch him.
Butler replied that answers will hopefully come from any number of investigations that are underway, but then veered back toward the conspiratorial:
We also know that Mr. Epstein tried to take his own life earlier. The decision about whether he should be taken off a suicide watch is one that’s made by a medical professional. Here it seems like the jailers made that decision. Again, at minimum, negligence. At worse, something much more sinister.
Matthews started to move along, but then stopped to circle back, wondering: “[W]hat do you mean by sinister at worse?”
Butler wouldn’t deny his ridership aboard the crazy train. Instead, he insinuated there was more since “there are concerns that Mr. Epstein had information, very valuable information he was going to get convicted” and thus questions of whether he was murdered need “to be asked.”
Matthews did move on, but not before again expressing dismay with Butler’s train of thought:
MATTHEWS: One of the issues you have a there, Paul, is that if somebody benefitted via his death, somebody killed him. That's a hell of a leap.
BUTLER: Oh, again, not necessarily. They could — they knew that he wanted to kill himself. Again, when you're in the custody of federal officials and you want to kill yourself, they're supposed to not let that happen.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on August 13, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
August 13, 2019
7:33 p.m. EasternCHRIS MATTHEWS: First of all, the political question. Where does the President get the chutzpah to just say — to throw out Bill Clinton and try to trash his name into this mess?
PAUL BUTLER: You know, I think Donald Trump is trying to deflect. If Bill Clinton has exposure, then so does Donald Trump. Bill Clinton's social lies with Epstein. So was Donald Trump. Bill Clinton was on the plane with Epstein. So was Donald Trump. The fact is that Mr. Epstein took his own life. He died while he was in the custody of the Trump administration. Bill Barr directs the Bureau of Prisons, and they allowed, in some ways, they facilitated Mr. Epstein's suicide. Now was that neg —
MATTHEWS: Well, that's not fair. What do you mean facilitated?
BUTLER: Well, again, they were on notice that he wanted to take his own life.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
BUTLER: He was on suicide watch.
MATTHEWS: Well, what do you make of pulling back, not having the guards there? What about not doing the half hour — on the half hour checking of him, make sure he had a cellmate who could watch him. What do you make of all that?
BUTLER: So, at minimum, it was negligence. What the inspection by the inspector general, the Justice Department and the FBI will look at is was it knowing and intentional. Again, you know that suicide is the leading cause of death of people who are in prison. We also know that Mr. Epstein tried to take his own life earlier. The decision about whether he should be taken off a suicide watch is one that’s made by a medical professional. Here it seems like the jailers made that decision. Again, at minimum, negligence. At worse, something much more sinister.
MATTHEWS: Well, in a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney General [sic] — what do you mean by sinister at worse?
BUTLER: Well, again, you know, obviously there are concerns that Mr. Epstein had information, very valuable information he was going to get convicted —
MATTHEWS: Yeah, but you're saying do you think there was foul play there?
BUTLER: — you know, I think that's a question that has to be asked. I think the answer is probably not. Again, understanding that —
MATTHEWS: Would an autopsy answer that question?
BUTLER: An autopsy might not — it would show cause of death. Again, it’s — we know that Mr. Epstein didn't have a whole lot of options. The only way that he might have not spent the rest of his life in prison is if he had incriminating information on people high up. Again, that was his only hope.
MATTHEWS: Ergo?
BUTLER: Well, you know the documents that were released on Friday named names, including people who were on the plane a lot. You know —
MATTHEWS: One of the issues you have a there, Paul, is that if somebody benefitted via his death, somebody killed him. That's a hell of a leap.
BUTLER: Oh, again, not necessarily. They could — they knew that he wanted to kill himself. Again, when you're in the custody of federal officials and you want to kill yourself, they're supposed to not let that happen. There’s ways that they can —
MATTHEWS: Is a middle ground here.
BUTLER: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Okay, thank you.
