Clinton HUD Official Lynne Patton Pushing Hillary Conspiracy Theory In Jeffrey Epstein Suicide
Yup. She seriously said that.
When news of Jeffrey Epstein's suicide began making the rounds in the early hours of Saturday morning, the reactions were mixed. Sure, it was a loss of life and suicide is always a sad and tragic end. However, Epstein was a convicted sex offender who was in trouble with the law once again with huge implications: he was caught up in a sex trafficking ring, and recent headlines made it clear that he knew a whole lot more than he was saying. It was only natural that people started sharing their own conspiracy theories about what led to his death. One of the surprising voices that sounded during this was that of Lynne Patton. Who is Lynne Patton? She's the head of one of the largest HUD regions in the country, she's a longtime Trump employee and she thinks that Bill and Hillary Clinton had Epstein murdered.
1. More Than Suicide?
Saturday morning the news was confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, the multi-millionaire arrested and charged with sex trafficking crimes, had taken his own life inside of his Manhattan jail cell. It didn't take very long for people to start speculating about what happened in Epstein's final moments, and if he ultimately took his own life before he was forced to confirm the involvement of other high-powered individuals at his trial. Now, a Trump official who runs the Department of Housing and Urban Development is speaking out about the suicide, and in the process throwing fuel on the already brightly blazing fire of conspiracy.
2. Lynne Patton's Theory
The official in question is none other than Lynne Patton, the number one over at HUD's Region II bureau which includes New Jersey and New York. You'd think a prominent government official would know better, but then again, Donald Trump is president, right? Anyway, on her Instagram account on the day Epstein was found dead Patton said that the dude had been "Hillary'd." Patton's not the only one suggesting that the Clintons are involved, either. In fact, Patton's just riffing on the idea that since the Clintons' ascent began back in the day they've made it their business to have people who could threaten their position murdered. Let's be clear: there is nothing to these rumors.
3. Conspiracy Theories Abound
Patton certainly wasn't alone in speculating about Epstein's death. Thanks to social media, the conspiracy machine was able to start chugging along at full force pretty early on and it only took a brief amount of time before hashtags like "#ClintonBodyCount" began to trend nationally. The Clintons weren't the only ones being blamed for Epstein's suicide. MSNBC's own Joe Scarborough shared that he believed that Epstein's death was actually a murder, the kind of staged murder usually arranged by, you guessed it, Russians. Now, with news that the medical examiner won't confirm Epstein's cause of death, the conspiracies are going to continue to grow.
4. Where Does It Come From
Alex Kaplan, a researcher at Media Matters for America, has been tracking all of the rumors and inaccurate "facts" about the Clintons that have made the rounds on the internet and Alex believes that many of the loudest voices spreading these conspiracies are associated with accounts that promote QAnon and from a host of Infowars. As for Patton, she, like others appointed to roles by the Trump administration, had no experience in the field when she was hired to lead one of the biggest HUD regions. But she has been working for Eric Trump since 2009 and even planned his wedding in 2014.
5. Patton On TV
But while Patton might not have much experience, it isn't slowing her down. In fact, you might be hearing a whole lot more about Patton in the not so distant future because she recently just got permission to be in a reality show about black Republicans. How she plans on balancing this with her job managing an agency that's responsible for grants to help nearly one million people in fraught housing situations and provide services to 80,000 homeless people is beyond me. Patton says that Trump is fine with her involvement as long as it doesn't happen during government hours.
6. God Bless Reality-TV
While the House House hasn't commented on Patton's decision to be on the show on her comments on Instagram in light of Epstein's death, Patton has spoken before about what we can expect from her once this TV show she's taking part in goes to air. "Look, they know I tend to put my foot in my mouth. They were a little concerned that maybe with some alcohol I might be a little too freewheeling on a show like this," Patton said. "I think that's what everybody hopes for on a docuseries or reality show. But they were very supportive," she shared. Wonder if that will still be the case after the smoke clears.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.