A Trump official is touting conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein's death


The conspiracy theories are already rolling in, and from within President Trump's administration to boot.
Lynne Patton, a longtime Trump insider and current official for the Department of Housing and Urban development, posted a screenshot on her Instagram account of a Daily Mail article about the suicide of alleged sex trafficker and millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell on Saturday morning.
Apparently, Patton is not sold on the official explanation that Epstein committed suicide. Instead, she captioned the post, "Hillary'd!!," adding that she doesn't "feel badly" about the situation before hinting that it's reminiscent of the suicide of Vince Foster.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Foster was a former White House aide in the Clinton administration whose death has sparked multiple decades of conspiracy theories with Bill and Hillary Clinton at the center, despite there being no evidence contradicting the findings that it was a suicide.
Trump brought up the Foster theories during his presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Patton's post appears to be another effort to draw a cloud over the president's former rival.
Both Trump and Bill Clinton have been connected to Epstein socially, but neither have been mentioned in allegations concerning illegal conduct.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
Trump soaks up adoration in his made-for-TV Cabinet meetings
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's televised sessions have become a platform for his top lieutenants to demonstrate executive flattery
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Can anyone save Jimmy Lai?
Today's Big Question 'Britain's shameful inaction' will mean it's partly 'responsible' if Hong Kong businessman dies in prison
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
America: Are we now living in an autocracy?
Feature 200 days into his presidency and Trump is still deepening his authoritarian grip
-
Red states join in Trump's D.C. crackdown
Feature 1,200 troops arrive in Washington D.C. from six red states