Purported Epstein suicide note sealed in courthouse: NYT

[0:00] Nearly seven years after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell, [0:04] the New York Times is reporting on a possible note that Epstein allegedly wrote before a [0:09] previous suicide attempt has been hidden away. According to this new report in the New York [0:14] Times, a quote, cellmate said he discovered the note in July 2019 after Mr. Epstein was found [0:20] unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Mr. Epstein survived that incident, [0:25] but weeks later was found dead in the jail. Now, the Times reports that the alleged suicide note [0:30] was sealed by a federal judge as part of the cellmate's criminal case. My source on this [0:36] tonight is on the byline of this story, the investigative reporter for the New York Times, [0:39] Steve Eder. And thank you, sir, for being here, because I want to start with how this possible [0:43] note was recovered. The cellmate apparently says he found the note in his cell tucked into a graphic [0:49] novel. How did it end up locked away by a judge? Yeah, it takes a circuitous path, I guess, [0:56] to being locked away from a judge. But basically, the short of it is that the cellmate says that [1:02] he discovered the note in the days after Epstein was found injured in his cell, right? And he turned [1:08] it over to his lawyers. His lawyers, apparently, according to a document that we reviewed, tried [1:13] to authenticate it, weren't able to right away. And then it ended up being moved over to his [1:19] criminal case, not the Epstein case, but this other case that was playing out kind of parallel [1:24] and ended up sort of sequestered from the Epstein proceedings in this whole other separate case for [1:30] years now. And in that case, the judge put the letter, this purported note under seal. [1:37] And what's the situation with the cellmates, the attorneys authenticating the note? I mean, [1:42] is it clear how they would even go about doing that? Yeah, we don't know all the details. I mean, [1:47] that's part of where we are with this. But what we understood there, there was a document that was [1:52] released as part of the millions of pages of records that have been released in over the last [1:57] year, less than a year now, that indicates that there was an effort to try to authenticate the [2:04] letter. And it indicates that it was authenticated. We don't really know all the details of what went [2:09] into that. So the Times has, you know, has gone ahead and made a request to the judge to have this [2:15] letter, this note unsealed. And what do you think will ultimately happen there? [2:21] You know, we'll see. We'll have to see what the judge says. I mean, I think that, you know, [2:24] certainly, you know, over recent months, there's been an incredible amount of records that have been [2:29] released related to Epstein. I think one of the big mysteries of all of this has continued to be [2:34] his time in jail, his death. And, you know, this is a piece of that. And it hasn't been, [2:40] you know, fully explored. And so we'll see, you know, what the judge says and kind of how that [2:44] plays out. But I think as we try to put the puzzle pieces together, this is certainly one of them that [2:49] we want to be able to analyze. Yeah. And I mean, there's, this has been one of the most, you know, [2:53] scrutinized parts of Jeffrey Epstein. Obviously, it's his death. You know, when you look at the cellmate, [2:59] the person's a former police officer serving four life sentences, charged with quadruple [3:03] homicide, the Times talked to him. How credible was he? Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say, right? [3:11] He certainly has his own case, his own interests to serve here. But the story that he told my [3:18] colleagues, Ben Weiser and Jan Ransom, you know, is, you know, consistent with some things that he has [3:23] said over, you know, the course of recent months about this. There's some, the chronology document [3:29] does reinforce some of the, some of the same points that he was making about the letter, [3:35] you know, but we'll see. I mean, I think that's part of the process here is to, you know, to try [3:39] to hopefully get a look at the letter at this note at some point. Yeah. I mean, it would obviously be [3:44] fascinating for people to see this. You know, I was thinking of this late last year, CNN had reported [3:50] on a fake note that was attributed to Epstein that had been sent to the convicted sex offender, [3:54] Larry Nassar. You know, there are so many questions about his death, what happened before it, [3:59] how it was handled by the Bureau of Prisons and the Justice Department. Why do you think this note, [4:06] or what does it add to you in terms of significance, as we look at that from an overall, [4:11] overall perspective? Sure. I mean, look, this note carries some potential weight, because if it can [4:17] be authenticated, if it's real, it would potentially give some window into his thinking, into Epstein's [4:22] thinking during those final weeks, right? There's been, you know, so many theories, you know, that [4:28] have kind of spawned off of his death and his jailing. And this would be another piece of evidence that, [4:34] you know, we'd be able to review and kind of look at what happened in totality there. And so that's why I [4:38] think it's, you know, it's a piece of a piece of the puzzle is kind of the way I've been thinking of it. [4:43] Yeah. Steve Eater, excellent work by you and your colleagues. Thank you for joining us tonight. [4:48] We have now learned, according to The New York Times, this new reporting out this morning, in part, [4:51] that a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail has been kept secret [4:56] for nearly seven years, locked up in a New York courthouse. And also this, the note was eventually [5:02] sealed by a federal judge as part of a different cellmate's own criminal case. According to documents [5:07] and interviews, that means investigators scrutinizing Mr. Epstein's high-profile death [5:11] lacked what could have been a key piece of evidence. Was the committee aware of this? [5:17] No. And it's a shocking revelation in development. And I think it highlights the [5:27] haphazard way that the investigation into Epstein took place over many years. We know the FBI [5:34] didn't interview key figures very close to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Clearly there were documents [5:42] that haven't been part of the investigation that should have. On the oversight committee, [5:47] we're going to be talking in the coming weeks to one of the prison guards, Tova Noel. I think this [5:53] revelation is going to lead to us wanting to talk to more folks at the prison to get a better, [6:00] much more clear understanding of exactly what evidence exists and what took place. [6:06] Interesting. Congressman, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. John? [6:10] Yeah. A little more detail on that New York Times report. On this purported suicide note written [6:16] by Jeffrey Epstein that the Times reports is in a New York courthouse. The New York Times reports this [6:24] stems from an incident weeks before his death. A cellmate says he discovered a note in July of 2019 [6:32] after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Now again, [6:37] this was before Epstein ultimately died. Epstein survived this first incident with the cloth when the [6:44] note was allegedly found. But it was weeks later that Epstein was found dead by suicide. Authorities [6:50] say a federal judge later sealed the note as part of that cellmate, the cellmate who allegedly found [6:56] it his criminal case. The Times is now petitioning the judge to unseal the note. The cellmate claimed the [7:02] note said, quote, time to say goodbye. So the cellmate says Epstein wrote time to say goodbye. With us now, [7:10] CNN legal analyst and criminal events attorney, Joey Jackson. Counselor, great to see you. Before [7:14] we get to the contents of the note and what it might mean, why is it locked up in a courthouse? Like [7:20] why wasn't it released as part of the Epstein document? Yeah. So even before that, John, good [7:24] morning to you. I think it's important to discuss whether it's authentic or not. I want to get to [7:29] that, but just tell me why it's locked up. So what happened is, is that it was under seal and [7:33] apparently judges have vast discretion with respect to whether they're putting something on under seal, [7:38] which means it's not in the public's view. It's not in the court records. If you go and right now [7:44] we have a system in federal court, state court two, where you can literally go into the docket and look [7:49] at a variety of materials. Well, there are some materials that are sensitive that are not going [7:53] to be in that docket because a judge in that judge's discretion will seal it. That's what they did [7:58] here. Remember, this involves Tartaglione. Who's he? He's a person who was convicted. He was [8:04] Jeffrey Epstein's cellmate, and he ultimately was convicted for four, yes, four quadruple murder. And [8:10] as a result of that and them sharing a cell, he purportedly, that is, Mr. Tartaglione found the note, [8:15] reported it to his lawyers. He had about 18 of them, by the way, over the course of time. And they got [8:20] involved. The lawyers did with respect. Hey, what should we do with the note? How do we authenticate [8:24] the note? Should we put the note under seal? It became the subject of a lot of controversy. [8:28] The attorneys argued it was attorney-client privilege, incident to their communications [8:33] and them seeking advice. And will Jeffrey Epstein claim that I actually, Tartaglione, his cellmate, [8:39] killed him or tried to kill him? And so what do we do? And so the judge ultimately said it's going [8:44] to be away from public view. It's going to be in a vault in the federal courthouse. And it has remained [8:49] there for all this time. Basically, a judge has it under his purview right now, involved in a separate [8:55] case, which is why it was not part of the Epstein files, per se. And the source here, this is from [9:02] a cellmate charged with four murders, quadruple murder, who said he found the note and is the [9:08] only person that we know so far to tell us what was on it. Time to say goodbye. So the credibility [9:13] of the source? Yeah, John, I think that's important to talk about. And at the time he was being charged, [9:18] now he's convicted and he's serving these four life sentences. And so you have to question, [9:23] right, what we call the veracity. Is it something that we could credit the fact that he said it, [9:28] that I found this note, it said time to say goodbye. It had a smiley face. What am I going [9:33] to do now? Burst out in tears. They found nothing, meaning indicating what was on that particular note. [9:39] And what ends up happening, John, in courts of law is that there's something called a chain of custody. [9:45] If you want to admit anything into evidence, we're not talking about an evidentiary proceeding here. [9:49] We're talking about why it's not in the files and whether it's authentic. It has to be authenticated. [9:54] And so was it a forgery? Was it not? They were roommates for two weeks. Did he learn his patterns? [9:59] Right. Was he planning that his Tartaglione, his cellmate, something nefarious against Epstein? [10:04] And so I think we have to really evaluate and question the note and its authenticity and where it got to. [10:10] Very quickly. Yes. What role might it play in the entire Epstein investigation in cases? [10:16] What questions does it raise about Jeffrey Epstein? So I think it goes to state of mind. [10:20] Remember that if it's something that he penned, right, there are many conspiracy theories concerning [10:24] his death. Is he really alive now, John? Is this a was this all a ruse? You know, did how could you [10:30] lose sight of such a prisoner? Did he take his own life? Did somebody else take his own life? Was he [10:35] suicidal? And so the note may indicate that he wanted that is Mr. Epstein to take his life. [10:41] Indications are, however, that he was telling psychologists that I have every reason to live. [10:45] I want to fight these charges. I'm entangled in my case. So I think it goes to what was he thinking [10:50] at the time and whether or not he actually is dead or maybe not. There are all these theories out there. [10:56] He's dead. I don't think there's any question about whether he's dead. The question is whether or not [10:59] it was a suicide. This may lend credence if the note is real to it being a suicide. Joey Jackson, [11:04] good to see you this morning. Thank you very much.