In the hours following the news of financier Jeffrey Epstein鈥檚 apparent suicide in a U.S. federal prison, social media erupted into a hotbed of speculation.

Conspiracy theorists quickly provided unsubstantiated claims that Epstein鈥檚 death, confirmed by a jail spokesperson, was suspicious or faked altogether, with a significant amount of theories pointing towards the involvement of the Clinton family.

Epstein was arrested in early July on allegations that he orchestrated a sex-trafficking ring for underage girls. He had pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial next year.

His close personal ties to U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and several other powerful people have fuelled speculation into what politicians knew about his alleged crimes.

Epstein鈥檚 death has been the gasoline to the fire of those rumours, allowing hashtags like #EpsteinMurder, #EpsteinSuicideCoverUp and #ClintonBodyCount to trend widely online.

Many of these claims have already been debunked. Here鈥檚 what we know so far:

The Clinton angle

Shortly after news of Epstein鈥檚 death broke, the hashtag #ClintonBodyCount began circulating on Twitter as theorists attempted to link his death to former democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

Several right-wing theorists questioned the circumstances of Epstein鈥檚 death using the hashtag, suggesting incriminating information related to Clinton鈥檚 knowledge of his crimes was set to be released.

Adding fuel to the fire, who captioned a video attempting to implicate the Clintons in Epstein鈥檚 death, using the hashtags #ClintonBodyCount and #ClintonCrime family.

According to fact checking website Snopes, disinformation surrounding the so-called 鈥淐linton Body Count鈥� dates back to 1993, when lawyer Linda Thompson who had died, some of them by suicide.

The list attempted to draw suspicion between the individuals鈥� deaths and their knowledge of the Clintons鈥� political and personal dealings.

By her own admission, Thompson had 鈥渘o direct evidence鈥� to support suggestions the family was involved in the deaths.

Snopes鈥� investigation revealed accounts for each death, including heart attacks, plane crashes, or suicides.

This isn鈥檛 the first Clinton-related rumour to circulate regarding Epstein.

Days after his arrest, memes circulated on several social media sites claiming the Obama administration forged a secret deal allowing Epstein to plead guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution and avoid more serious charges in order to protect the former president.

However, the deal was actually executed under President George W. Bush, before President Obama took office.

A spokesperson for the former president said Clinton has no knowledge of the charges against Epstein.

The Trump angle

Along with the #ClintonBodyCount hashtag, 鈥淭rump Body Count鈥� also began trending.

The hashtag, originally related to the rash of shooting deaths in the U.S., was then used by some theorists to suggest Trump played a hand in Epstein鈥檚 death鈥攕o much so that some right-wing theorists accused the media of trying to cover up the Clinton angle.

The murder angle

Others have questioned the circumstances of Epstein鈥檚 death, suggesting the sheer number of variables may point towards a murder, not a suicide.

鈥淲hen they say you are insane for believing a conspiracy theory think of this: Cameras did not capture Epstein鈥檚 death; cellmate moved out of cell prior to his death; Epstein was taken off suicide watch; guards did not check on him,鈥�

Much is still to be determined about the circumstances of Epstein鈥檚 death.

An autopsy was performed Sunday, but the details have yet to be released publicly.

Sources told the Associated Press that Epstein was placed on suicide watch two weeks ago after he was found with bruising on his neck. However, he was taken off suicide watch at the end of July鈥攁 move experts say several officials would have had to sign off on.

The guards on Epstein鈥檚 unit were also said to be working 鈥渆xtreme overtime shifts鈥� to make up for staffing shortages, according to the Associated Press.

On Monday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr also called for a thorough investigation into Epstein鈥檚 death citing 鈥渟erious irregularities鈥� at the facility where Epstein was being held.

The fake angle

Perhaps the wildest of conspiracies suggest that Epstein isn鈥檛 dead at all.

An image published by the New York Post tabloid, reportedly showing paramedics working on Epstein鈥檚 body as he was brought to hospital, circulated widely on social media.

While some users questioned why paramedics are pictured administering oxygen to the patient purported to be Epstein, others questioned whether the body looked like that of Epstein.

Other claims have suggested that Epstein was somehow 鈥渟witched out鈥� of his jail cell to flee the country; however, these claims have not been substantiated.

The Russia angle

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted Sunday alleging 鈥淧utin bots鈥� were aggressively pushing hashtags on social media promoting Trump and Clinton conspiracies on Twitter.

鈥淚t鈥檚 sad (and frightening) to see so many Americans on both sides of partisan unwittingly helping them,鈥� Rubio wrote on Twitter. 鈥淧utin has weaponized our polarization.鈥�

Rubio included no evidence to support his claims of Russian interference.

CTVNews.ca asked media intelligence agency Storyful whether or not they had seen any evidence of bot-like or automated activity within any of the Epstein-related hashtags, but the search came up short.

鈥淪toryful did not see any evidence supporting this claim by Sen Rubio, or outstanding evidence of coordinated bot-like or automated activity around these hashtags,鈥� Ciaran O鈥機onnor, journalist with Storyful, told CTVNews.ca

鈥淚n fact, according to our analysis, we saw the biggest amplification when high-profile right and left-wing supporting accounts used hashtags like #ClintonBodyCount and #TrumpBodyCount.鈥�