By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Jeffrey Epstein’s death was first leaked on a right-wing Internet message board but the information didn’t come from FDNY first responders, the department said Tuesday.
Details about the Epstein’s demise were up on the anonymous message board 4 Chan about 30 minutes before word of the apparent suicide seeped out.
“[D]ont ask me how I know, but Epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest,” the poster wrote on Saturday. When pressed for more information, procedures used to resuscitate Epstein were listed.
The data, which appeared to be from a first responder, was first reported by Buzzfeed News.
“The FDNY reviewed the alleged information and determined it did not come from the Department,” an FDNY spokesman told the Daily News.
An ongoing investigation into the leak is focused on hospital personnel right now, sources said.
If a city medic or any other medical professional divulged information about Epstein’s death, it is a violation of federal health privacy laws and they could face serious consequences, officials said.
Oren Barzilay, head of FDNY EMS Union Local 2507 said he was “confident” that someone other than an FDNY member was responsible.
“Reading the posting it looks clear to me that someone is repeating what they read or saw,” Barzilay said. “Patient confidentiality is a vital part of our training. Our EMTs and paramedics are well aware of the consequences they would face by leaking such information.”
Two federal investigations have been launched into Epstein’s death.
The accused sex trafficker died Saturday after he apparently used a bedsheet to hang himself inside his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan.
Epstein, 66, was being held at the federal prison since he was arrested on sex trafficking charges July 6. He attempted suicide by hanging on July 24 while in MCC’s special housing unit but was not on suicide watch when he died.
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