Overview
- Kenneth Karas, the federal judge overseeing a related case in White Plains, ordered the note released Wednesday after it had been sealed for years.
- The Justice Department told the court it lacks the evidence to confirm the document is genuine, and the judge did not rule on authorship or the note’s chain of custody.
- The New York Times petitioned to unseal the filing and prosecutors did not object, with the judge citing the public’s right of access to a court record tied to the Nicholas Tartaglione case.
- Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, said he found the unsigned, seven‑line message in July 2019 hidden in a graphic novel and gave it to his lawyers, after which it landed in his court file under seal.
- Release of the document has revived oversight of Epstein’s contacts, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told House investigators he was not close to Epstein and more interviews of associated figures are scheduled.