LATEST: “It is a pleasure to be able to choose the moment to say goodbye”: Epstein’s alleged suicide letter
In breaking news, the following story has emerged from the international scene.
A federal judge on May 6 released a document described as a suicide note allegedly written by the late Jeffrey Epstein and including the phrase: “It is a pleasure to be able to choose the moment to say goodbye.” Epstein, the disgraced financier and alleged sex trafficker, was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, in what was ruled a suicide. The handwritten note is said to have been found by his former cellmate, convicted murderer and former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione. Federal Judge Kenneth Karas, who oversaw the Tartaglione case, published the note following a request from the New York Times, which reported its existence last week. To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies. Accept Manage my options An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site. Try again The Epstein affair involves more French people, not Frédéric Chaslin, Jean-Luc Brunel and Jack Lang. © Studio graphique France Médias Monde Karas ruled that the note qualified as a judicial document, subject to the public’s right of access because it was filed in connection with the criminal case of Tartaglione, who is serving four consecutive life sentences for drug-related murders. Karas oversaw that case. The judge found no legal reason to keep it under seal. But it also did not attest to the authenticity of the note, nor did it evaluate its chain of custody. Instead, he treated those issues as irrelevant to the decision to declassify her. “No party has identified any consideration that would justify sealing the note,” the judge ruled. The letter, scribbled on a yellow legal pad, was filed by lawyers for Tartaglione, who was Epstein’s cellmate for about two weeks in July 2019 while both were held in a Manhattan jail. “They investigated me for months… and they found NOTHING!!! So they accused me of some events from 15 years ago,” the note says, according to an image of it published in the court file. “It’s a luxury to be able to choose the moment to say goodbye. What do you want me to do? Start crying out loud? IT’S NOT FUNNY AT ALL, IT’S NOT WORTH IT!” Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to soliciting the prostitution services of a minor, a conviction that led to a controversial plea deal and a short prison sentence. He was arrested again in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors, for recruiting and abusing underage girls in New York and Florida. The note came to light in July 2019, after Epstein was found alive in his Manhattan jail cell with marks on his neck, in what authorities later described as an apparent suicide attempt. According to Tartaglione’s public descriptions, the paper was hidden inside a book in the cell they shared. Epstein died several weeks later, on August 10, 2019, in a separate incident that was ruled a suicide. To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies. Accept Manage my options An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site. Try again © France 24 Tartaglione mentioned the letter in a podcast interview last year, but the issue gained great relevance after the ‘New York Times’ reported on its existence on April 30. The newspaper reported that federal investigators never saw the memo and that it was not among the millions of Epstein-related documents released by the Justice Department in recent years. In ordering the secrecy lifted, the judge rejected privacy concerns, taking note of Epstein’s death and widespread public discussion of the alleged memo. Lutnick without memory of his meetings with Epstein Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick declared this May 6 before a congressional commission, in a closed-door appearance, that he did not remember why he and his family had lunch on Epstein’s private island, according to members of the commission. To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies. Accept Manage my options An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site. Try again © France 24 Lutnick, former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, had lunch with the convicted sex offender for two hours on the island in 2012, contradicting an earlier public statement in which he claimed to have cut off all ties with Epstein years earlier. In a podcast last year, Lutnick said he had vowed to “never be in the same room” with Epstein after the financier invited Lutnick and his wife around 2005 to visit his townhouse, where Epstein made a sexual comment about a massage table he had installed. Lutnick and Epstein were neighbors on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick leaves the Capitol after an interview with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, as part of an ongoing investigation into the deceased sexual and financial offender Jeffrey Epstein. Washington DC, May 6, 2026. REUTERS – Jonathan Ernst “We asked him over and over again, ‘Why did you go to the island?'” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Virginia. “He says he doesn’t remember it, that it’s inexplicable and that he just didn’t know how to answer the question.” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Lutnick was transparent in his voluntary statement. Comer noted that Lutnick explained to the committee that Epstein learned that his family and friends were vacationing in the Virgin Islands and invited them all to lunch. “The only thing I saw Lutnick do wrong was that he was not 100% truthful about the brief visit to the island with his family. He corrected that in his opening statement,” Comer told reporters. “If we discover that Lutnick made any false statements, lying to Congress is a serious crime and he will be held accountable.”
What This Means:
This development could have far-reaching consequences for global politics in the months ahead.
As the situation continues to evolve, analysts are closely watching for further developments.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story continues to unfold.
Source: This article was originally published in another language by France 24 – Noticias y actualidad internacional en vivo and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.