Donald Trump has insisted he was justified in promoting a baseless conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein’s death because the man he retweeted “has half-a-million followers”.

The US president shared a tweet on Saturday by right-wing commentator Terrence K Williams, who baselessly suggested in the video post that the Clinton family had the paedophile financier killed due to former president Bill Clinton’s past association with him.

“He had information on the Clintons, and the man ended up dead,” Mr Williams said in a rambling two-minute diatribe.

It was posted the same day Epstein was found hanged in his New York prison cell in what the FBI said was an "apparent suicide". On Tuesday, it was reported two guards fell asleep briefly on the night of the 66-year-old's death, then attempted to falsify records.

Epstein was facing new sex trafficking and conspiracy charges over allegations he operated an international child sex trafficking ring. He was set to stand trial next year and was facing 45 years in jail if convicted.

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(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Evan Vucci AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Anti-Trump protesters hold a banner outside the makeshift memorial to the victims of the WalMart shooting that left a total of 22 people dead, in El Paso, Texas, on August 7, 2019. - President Donald Trump consoled victims of a mass shooting in Ohio on Wednesday but protesters and opponents denounced what they say is his extremist rhetoric on race and immigration. The president's trip to Dayton, where nine people were gunned down over the weekend, was to be followed immediately after by a stop in the border city of El Paso, Texas, where 22 were murdered. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Demonstrators gather to protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the Oregon District early Sunday morning, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton. Twenty-four-year-old Connor Betts opened fire in Dayton early Sunday, killing several people including his sister, before officers fatally shot him. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke hugs a woman at a makeshift memorial outside Walmart honoring victims of the mass shooting there which left 22 people dead. Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Anti-Trump protesters hold signs outside the makeshift memorial to the victims of the WalMart shooting that left a total of 22 people dead, in El Paso, Texas, on August 7, 2019. - President Donald Trump consoled victims of a mass shooting in Ohio on Wednesday but protesters and opponents denounced what they say is his extremist rhetoric on race and immigration. The president's trip to Dayton, where nine people were gunned down over the weekend, was to be followed immediately after by a stop in the border city of El Paso, Texas, where 22 were murdered. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Marisela Hernandez holds sign to protest the visit of President Donald Trump to the border city after the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Aiming to play the traditional role of healer during national tragedy, President Donald Trump paid visits Wednesday to cities reeling from the mass shootings. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton) Andres Leighton AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso, University Medical Centre An anti-Trump demonstrator holds up a placard outside the University Medical Center, where U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting with first responders in the wake of last weekend's mass shootings at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas, U.S., August 7, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ Reuters Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso, University Medical Centre President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet PFC Glendon Oakley (second right), who saved several lives during the mass shooting in Texas AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Demonstrators chant as they protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the Oregon District early Sunday morning, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso, University Medical Centre An anti-Trump demonstrator holds up a placard as police block the area outside the University Medical Center, where U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting with first responders in the wake of last weekend's mass shootings at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas, U.S., August 7, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ Reuters/Amanda Voisard Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Beto ORourke consoles a man at the makeshift memorial outside Walmart Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso, University Medical Centre An anti-Trump demonstrator yells near police outside the University Medical Centre Reuters Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso TOPSHOT - El Paso residents protest against the visit of US President Donald Trump to the city after the Walmart shooting that left a total of 22 people dead, in El Paso, Texas, on August 7, 2019. - President Donald Trump consoled victims of a mass shooting in Ohio on Wednesday but protesters and opponents denounced what they say is his extremist rhetoric on race and immigration. The president's trip to Dayton, where nine people were gunned down over the weekend, was to be followed immediately after by a stop in the border city of El Paso, Texas, where 22 were murdered. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty Images Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Dayton President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Makeshift memorial for victims of the shooting that left a total of 22 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall Walmart AFP/Getty Images Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Demonstrators gather to protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the Oregon District early Sunday morning, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings President Trump greets Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley as he arrives at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Demonstrators gather to protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the Oregon District early Sunday morning, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. Twenty-four-year-old Connor Betts opened fire in Dayton early Sunday, killing several people including his sister, before officers fatally shot him. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Dayton Damon Smith presents a message to President Donald Trump beside a makeshift memorial in Dayton AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Demonstrators gather in front of an inflatable "Baby Trump" to protest the presidents arrival AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Demonstrators gather to protest the arrival of President Donald Trump outside Miami Valley Hospital after a mass shooting that occurred in the Oregon District early Sunday morning, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Dayton. President Donald Trump is headed to Dayton and El Paso, Texas on Wednesday to offer a message of healing and unity, but he will be met by unusual hostility in both places by people who fault his own incendiary words as a contributing cause to the mass shootings . (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo AP Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso A photo of victim Javier Amir Rodriguez, a 15-year-old sophomore Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings Dayton Demonstrators protest the visit of US President Donald Trump to the site of the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, on August 7, 2019. - Nine people were killed on August 4 in the city's popular Oregon District. (Photo by Megan JELINGER / AFP)MEGAN JELINGER/AFP/Getty Images MEGAN JELINGER AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso A message is left for Donald Trump AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso Signs and flags adorn the makeshift memorial for victims of the shooting that left a total of 22 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall Walmart, in El Paso, Texas, on August 7, 2019. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso People hug at the makeshift memorial AFP/Getty Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings El Paso People pray at the makeshift memorial AFP/Getty

Asked by reporters outside his New Jersey golf resort on Tuesday to clarify his retweet of Mr Williams, Mr Trump said: “He’s a big Trump fan. That was a retweet, it wasn’t from me, that was from him, but the man has half a million followers, a lot of followers.”

The president also said Mr Williams was a “very highly respected conservative pundit”.

Mr Trump's comments came after Mr Williams doubled down on his conspiracy theorising when he sarcastically pretended to try and hang himself on video with toilet roll to purportedly show Mr Epstein could not have killed himself.

Last year, Mr Williams was cut short by Fox News during an interview for being overtly racist, when he called an Asian-American New York Times journalist "Crazy-nese" and said there was "something wrong with them fortune cookies that Ling Ling's eating".

Fox & Friends hosts push Epstein conspiracy theories on live TV

Asked by one reporter if he really believed the Clintons were involved in Epstein’s death, Mr Trump suggested there was merit to the conspiracy theory when he said he had “no idea” if it was true, but that Mr Clinton had been on Epstein’s private plane.

Mr Trump also noted attorney general William Barr had ordered an investigation into Epstein's death, adding: “I want a full investigation, and that's what I absolutely am demanding."

Epstein’s death came a day after new legal documents, unsealed by a court, provided more details about the numerous young girls the financier is said to have abused over several decades.