New York City jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself shutting down 'at least temporarily'

The scandal-plagued federal jail where pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself is being shut down due to ongoing problems at the facility, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

In recent years, the jail has faced a number of controversies over its squalid conditions, chronic understaffing and rampant spread of coronavirus within its walls.  The facility, which currently houses less than half of its normal population with 223 inmates, will be shut down while it tries to fix those problems.