Epstein jail note revealed after 7 years?! Melber’s definitive breakdown on Trump DOJ death mystery

0:01 A major new development in the long-running Jeffrey Epstein saga,

0:03 which has already revealed so many government failures,

0:05 tough questions for the Trump DOJ,

0:07 the mismanagement that we all saw of Epstein's initial death,

0:10 the secrecy and the failures to pursue accountability in many directions.

0:14 Now we turn to something that is truly unusual.

0:17 I know in the news and in this recent era you hear that a lot,

0:20 but as someone who's practiced law and covered law in the Epstein case,

0:24 you almost never see something like this.

0:27 The news tonight here, seven years after Epstein was found dead,

0:32 the government has now made this extremely late disclosure

0:35 of a handwritten note purportedly by Epstein from jail.

0:40 We're going to get into this.

0:41 That is what it looks like.

0:43 That's the actual handwriting.

0:44 The Times reports that Epstein's cellmate said

0:46 he discovered the note in July 2019

0:48 after he was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth wrapped around his neck.

0:51 So to be clear, the note that I'm about to read to you is

0:55 from around the time that the jail

0:57 documented Epstein as a potential suicide risk, but not his later death.

1:03 They put him on suicide watch after he

1:05 was found injured in his cell in July 2019.

1:08 That first incident was significant,

1:11 because the jail later failed to follow suicide watch rules.

1:16 And this ended after just six days and a few weeks later Epstein was found dead.

1:21 This is part of our timeline that shows,

1:23 as you can see, a lot of different events.

1:25 But specifically, if you look at the very far left point,

1:29 cellmate tried to kill him.

1:30 It was the government record of that July account that I'm mentioning here.

1:34 Government later ruled the death of suicide,

1:36 but there were so many irregularities as we've reported.

1:39 Now, in that first incident,

1:41 recall that Epstein had told staff his cellmate tried to kill him.

1:44 And that's what government records show.

1:46 But then later he also told officers that he didn't really know what occurred.

1:51 Epstein's cellmate denied it and said Epstein did try to hang himself.

1:54 I want to give you that context

1:56 so you understand exactly what we're reading from.

1:59 Because for the first time, we have a newly revealed document viewed

2:02 as a potential suicide note from that first incident.

2:06 This is critical evidence and it is a scandal

2:09 that this was held secret for seven years until last night.

2:14 And I have more on that piece of the story.

2:16 But now with that background, here is the single page evidence.

2:20 It reads, they investigated me for a month, found nothing.

2:24 So 16-year-old charges resulted.

2:27 It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye.

2:32 What you want me to do, bust out crying.

2:35 You see that written there?

2:36 And then at the end in caps, no fun, not worth it.

2:42 Now from an investigative or journalistic view,

2:44 you take a note like this and you reason through it.

2:48 Clearly the tone reflects a negative view

2:50 of the case and this individual's future.

2:52 The writer is asserting that they are going

2:54 to choose how to depart or say goodbye,

2:57 which reflects a kind of suicidal intent.

3:00 Now government sources and the journalists who've looked at this have

3:04 not been able to corroborate that this note was definitely by Epstein.

3:08 We don't have, for example,

3:10 recent forensics or any kind of good chain of custody all these years later.

3:13 We can also tell you the note uses

3:16 similar wording to Epstein's past writings and emails,

3:19 which of course were not public at the time.

3:21 And that makes it less likely that a random

3:24 person in 2019 would be able to replicate

3:26 his exact speech unless you think that he talked

3:29 like that all the time and they overheard it, but it's certainly less likely.

3:32 We have emails.

3:34 Where Epstein used the very phrase, what you want me to do, bust out crime.

3:39 Another note found in Epstein's jail cell has

3:41 some similar handwriting and the all-caps phrase, no fun.

3:47 That is similar to this note,

3:50 and again like any investigation you say that adds it bolsters

3:56 the view that this was really Epstein's handwriting that he did write this.

4:01 It doesn't authenticate it, right?

4:04 It's not at the level where you say oh we have DNA or a video of him writing it,

4:08 which from an investigative view would be higher corroboration,

4:11 but this is IT'S NOT SOME SHODDY, EASILY DEBUNKED FAKE.

4:16 NOW FOR THE LONG ROAD TO GET HERE,

4:18 THIS NOTE WAS SEALED IN AN UNRELATED CASE THAT INVOLVES EPSTEIN'S FORMER It's

4:22 only out now because intrepid New York Times journalists pressed to unseal it,

4:26 and a judge finally did that at the end of the day yesterday.

4:30 Now, given the conflicting history of the initial July incident,

4:33 if there was a real note, that shows Epstein's intent to take his life

4:37 that adds to the evidence of suicide.

4:40 Remember, there was a lot of government secrecy and conflicting evidence,

4:43 as we showed in this death timeline report,

4:46 that has dogged what was THEN THE TRUMP

4:49 DOJ'S OVERSIGHT AND ALSO RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW

4:52 THE BIDEN DOJ DEALT WITH THIS IN A LATER

4:54 REPORT SO THERE'S BEEN QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CAUSE

4:56 OF HIS DEATH AND OBVIOUSLY AS I'VE SAID

4:58 BEFORE ANY LEGITIMATE QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER HE ACTUALLY DIDN'T

5:01 TAKE HIS LIFE OR THERE WAS FOUL PLAY IS

5:04 A HUGE DEAL ONE THAT THE CONGRESS ULTIMATELY VIEWED

5:07 AS LEGITIMATE IN REOPENING THIS ISSUE WITH THE EPSTEIN

5:10 FILE SECTION THAT REQUIRED NEW MATERIAL AND THEN

5:13 OF COURSE WE HAD THE FAILED PROTOCOLS

5:15 AND THE BOTCHED CRIME SCENE MORE THAN SIX YEARS LATER

5:21 KEY DETAILS OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S DEATH REMAIN UNRESOLVED

5:24 I WOULD LIKE TO SEE AN INVESTIGATION TO UNDERSTAND

5:27 HOW THIS WAS PERMITTED TO HAPPEN THERE'S A LOT

5:31 THAT'S BEEN WRONG WITH THIS CASE FROM THE VERY

5:33 FIRST INCEPTION TO THIS NOW EMBARRASSING IN-CUSTODY DEATH

5:36 THERE'S SOME SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS ON HOW SOMEBODY WHO WAS

5:40 SUCH A HIGH-PROFILE DEFENDANT COULD BE FOUND DEAD

5:43 AND HOW THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED THIS IS NOT

5:46 ADEQUATE AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED THESE ARE

5:48 REAL QUESTIONS AND THE TRUMP AND THEN LATER BIDEN

5:52 DOJ THE TRUMP DOJ INCLUDING HOW THEY BEFORE

6:07 THE TRUMP DOJ INTERNAL MATERIALS AND OF COURSE THE E-MAILS

6:08 REVEALED MORE MISTAKES AND SECRECY FROM WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT

6:12 STARTING WITH THE TRUMP DOJ INCLUDING HOW THEY

6:14 MISHANDLED THE DEATH SCENE AND SHREDDED DOCUMENTS ALL

6:17 OF THIS WAS IN OUR TIMELINE BEFORE WE EVEN

6:20 GOT LAST NIGHT'S NEW NOTE AS FOR THE FAILED

6:24 PROTOCOLS REMEMBER FEDERAL GUARDS UNDER THE TRUMP DOJ

6:27 DID NOT DO THE NIGHTLY INMATE CHECKS THEY

6:30 ALSO FAILED TO CHECK FINGERPRINTS OR D .N .A.

6:32 TESTS IN THE CELL AFTER EPSTEIN'S DEATH.

6:34 CBS REPORTING ON THAT NOTICEABLE OVERSIGHT.

6:37 I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THE MEDICAL EXAMINER DID RULE

6:40 THIS A SUICIDE AND CITED NO EVIDENCE OF DEFENSIVE WOUNDS,

6:43 THE KIND OF THING YOU MIGHT FIND IF THERE WERE FOUL

6:46 ONLY ONE CAMERA WAS OPERATING INSIDE THE AREA OUTSIDE EPSTEIN'S CELL BLOCK,

6:51 YOU CAN SEE HERE JUST ONE IN GREEN,

6:53 ACCORDING TO THE CBS ACCOUNT, AND UNDER TWO ADMINISTRATIONS,

6:57 THE DOJ ULTIMATELY SAID THERE WASN'T FOUL PLAY,

6:59 AND THERE WERE NOT ANY PEOPLE NEAR EPSTEIN'S CELL THAT NIGHT.

7:03 NOW IF THE GOVERNMENT IS RIGHT ABOUT THAT, IF NO OTHER PERSON GOT NEAR HIM,

7:08 THAT WOULD CORROBORATE SUICIDE RATHER THAN

7:10 ANOTHER PERSON PERHAPS DOING FOUL PLAY.

7:12 THE ONLY FOOTAGE WE HAVE FROM THE NIGHT HE DIED,

7:16 WHICH WAS AGAIN RELEASED IN THIS UNUSUAL EPSTEIN FILES,

7:18 THE GOVERNMENT DIDN'T THINK WE'D EVER SEE WHAT YOU SEE THERE,

7:21 THAT APPARENT ORANGE FLASH, WHICH IS SUSPICIOUS.

7:24 IT SUGGESTS POSSIBLY AT LEAST A PERSON IN ORANGE, TYPICALLY THE INMATE ATTIRE,

7:30 WAS SOMEHOW ON THE LOOSE IN THAT VERY AREA AT 10 .39 PM,

7:35 SOMETHING THAT THE DOJ DENIED.

7:37 I WANT YOU TO ALSO KNOW THAT SUICIDE, AS YOU SEE, IS THERE FROM THE SOURCES.

7:41 BUT OTHERS, INCLUDING PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH EPSTEIN'S DEFENSE,

7:45 DO BELIEVE IT WAS FOUL PLAY.

7:47 IF THIS LONG SECRET NOTE WAS WRITTEN BY EPSTEIN,

7:50 IT DOES BOLSTER EVIDENCE OF IT THE GOVERNMENT

7:52 HAS RELEASED HIS SUICIDAL INTENT IN JULY, WEEKS BEFORE HIS DEATH.

7:56 IT IS REMARKABLE AND A PROBLEM THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD THIS NOTE FOR THIS LONG

8:04 AND FOR A SERIES of reasons we're going to get into held it back.

8:07 But now we have it.

8:08 New York Times' Benjamin Weiser But the note sealed

8:10 as part of this Epstein cellmate THE CELL MATE HAS SAID,

8:14 AND THIS IS WHAT BEN WAS REPORTING ON, HE DISCOVERED

8:17 THE NOTE THAT PERIOD IN JULY BEFORE EPSTEIN WAS FOUND DEAD.

8:21 THIS IS INTERESTING AND NEW TONIGHT,

8:23 A SPOKESPERSON FROM THE CURRENT TRUMP DOJ TELLING THE TIMES,

8:26 THE AGENCY HAD NEVER SEEN THIS NOTE EVEN AMID ALL

8:30 OF THE SCRUTINY AND THE FILES THAT THEY DO HAVE.

8:32 AND THAT'S IMPORTANT because the DOJ later,

8:34 including under the Biden administration,

8:37 did this full report about Epstein's attention and death.

8:41 Released in 23, it would seem that according to the current DOJ,

8:45 they didn't even have HAVE THIS, WHICH RAISES

8:48 QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER THAT REPORT AND THE EVIDENCE

8:50 THEY HAD WAS INCOMPLETE AND WHETHER THERE

8:53 WERE PEOPLE INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT WHO QUITE frankly,

8:56 didn't want to turn over every rock.

8:58 I put that to you because you're in this.