Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images

Since Jeffrey Epstein was charged with sex trafficking and sex-trafficking conspiracy early last month, the tone of public interest in the story has turned conspiratorial, a shift that was magnified tenfold following the sex offender’s jail-cell death by suicide.

Considering the horrid and bizarre details, the high-society company that Epstein kept — including two presidents and a member of the royal family — and the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center’s failure to keep him safe following a reported suicide attempt in July, close observers of the story have had a hard time waiting for all the facts to come in to start drawing conclusions. Politicians, reporters, and pretty much everyone on Twitter are responding to Epstein’s death, reaching for conspiracies and provocative — if unfounded — theories on how it might have happened.

Below is a collection of some of the more prominent theories that are floating around and some representative examples from their backers.

Maybe it was the Clintons

Linking Bill and Hillary Clinton to Epstein’s death first got a boost from Trump World fixture Lynne Patton and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, then became a trending topic on Twitter, and eventually gained an inevitable endorsement from the president of the United States (who doesn’t seem to realize that his administration runs the prison where Epstein died):

Here’s Trump family party planner and HUD appointee Lynne Patton saying Epstein was “Hillary’d” pic.twitter.com/gyzTETr3HT — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 10, 2019

US President Donald Trump has retweeted the completely baseless conspiracy theory implying Epstein was killed by the Clintons. He also boosted an account that spread a falsehood about today's events earlier in the day. pic.twitter.com/5l6dmVGLIK — Jane Lytvynenko 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ (@JaneLytv) August 10, 2019

BOP - which runs the facility in which Epstein was housed - is part of DOJ, which is overseen by Barr, who reports to Trump. https://t.co/bd4qZRFYkW. Just stop. https://t.co/szTH6QJS14 — Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) August 10, 2019

Maybe it was Trump, or his administration

Former Senator Claire McCaskill implied foul play based on the ultimately false assumption that Epstein’s death came while he was on suicide watch:

Something stinks to high heaven. How does someone on suicide watch hang himself with no intervention? Impossible. Unless..... — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) August 10, 2019

Once it came out that Epstein was reportedly (and astoundingly) not on suicide watch anymore, that became a target of suspicion:

Is it a "conspiracy theory" to wonder out loud if Epstein's ability to implicate Trump in terrible sex crimes might have something to do with his death in a DOJ/Bill Barr-controlled jail? Why did Barr's people take him off suicide watch? Very convenient. https://t.co/UFLA3XuWG9 — Thom Hartmann (@Thom_Hartmann) August 10, 2019

Attorney General William Barr said in a statement that a special inquiry would be opened into what happened surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death. Once that report is delivered, Barr will lie about what it says and exonerate Trump of all wrongdoing. #MuellerReport2 — (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) August 10, 2019

Maybe it was Jeffrey Epstein

Photo: Twitter

Hundreds of people kill themselves in American jails each year. They are almost always preventable deaths. This is a major failure of our criminal justice system - highlighted today by a high profile case https://t.co/xbZ8AghDqX — Wesley (@WesleyLowery) August 10, 2019

Wow, people already circulating a completely unfounded conspiracy theory that Epstein wasn’t murdered — Nick Wiger (@nickwiger) August 10, 2019

/7 But if your belief is “it has to be murder, because nobody is this incompetent or indifferent,” you’re a willfully blind fool, a useful idiot for a despicable system. /endhttps://t.co/rzAnlNuknJ — WhatFreshHellIsThisHat (@Popehat) August 10, 2019

Maybe it was… someone

Here’s what I know about the uber-rich: They never drive themselves, they’ve never done a load of laundry, and they have no friggin’ clue how to tie a knot in a noose. — Michael Moore (@MMFlint) August 10, 2019

People close to Epstein fear he was murdered...as Epstein told authorities someone tried to kill him in a previous incident weeks earlier. He was described as being in good spirits in recent days... https://t.co/J9QNSo1N2v — Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig) August 10, 2019

Look. I have studied powerful people and criminals for a long time. Even if there’s “photographic evidence” there is no way this was suicide.

Having someone killed or hurt in jail can be as simple as leaving them unprotected. As simple as paying someone outside the jail. https://t.co/sCnvbs1A6k — Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) August 10, 2019

He reportedly tried to kill himself two weeks ago. And is allowed to finish the job now? Bullshit. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) August 10, 2019

(Scarborough later said that he wasn’t being serious.)

Epstein’s deal with Acosta mysteriously immunized unnamed co-conspirators who are now conveniently off the hook again. — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 10, 2019

As in, did this man who was protected all his life by corrupt & powerful people also “helped” at the end? Most conspiracy theories make no sense because there are existing realistic answers while the theory demands too much. But a *second* successful attempt needs an explanation. — zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) August 10, 2019

If we were living in a paranoid fantasy universe, I would be very suspicious about the Epstein suicide, even about whether it was really suicide. And you know what? The Epstein case itself shows that we *are* kind of living in a paranoid fantasy universe — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) August 10, 2019

The funny thing is that before today I was in the process of convincing myself that the Epstein shit was maybe a bit overblown. Lol. Lol to everything. — Matt Christman (@cushbomb) August 10, 2019

And then there were the jokes

I just got off the phone with Q.



Was at car wash so bad connection, but here’s what I think they said.



Don’t quote me.



Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide on 8/10/19.



8 + 10 + 19 = 37



The name Bill Barr has 8 letters.



37 + 8 = 45



Donald Trump is the 45th President. — andy lassner (@andylassner) August 10, 2019

There’s something suspicious about this Epstein autopsy photo 🤔 pic.twitter.com/R3DkVN89sO — pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) August 11, 2019

The moment when the Clinton, Trump, and the British Royal Family assassins all run into each other in Jeffery Epstein's cell. pic.twitter.com/943D5slzyj — Joe Kassabian (@jkass99) August 10, 2019

This post has been updated to include additional context, theories, and President Trump’s involvement. This post also originally included a tweet from Seth Abramson. It was removed after he said it mischaracterized the point he was making.

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