NEW YORK, United States — A federal judge on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, unsealed an unsigned and undated document described in court records as a purported note from Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender whose death in custody in 2019 has remained the subject of public scrutiny.
The document was entered on the court docket in a case involving a former cellmate of Epstein’s, who said he had discovered it.
The Justice Department said in a court filing that it did not know whether the document was authentic.
District Judge Kenneth Karas of the Southern District of New York ordered the release after a request by The New York Times.
In its filing, the Justice Department acknowledged the public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.
“There appears to be a strong public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death as described in the unsealing motion,” the department said.
Epstein died in 2019 while in federal custody. Interest in his case has continued, including questions surrounding his death and federal investigations into his activities.
The unsealing came after Congress passed a transparency measure last autumn, leading the Justice Department to release millions of documents related to Epstein.
Questions Remain Over Authenticity
The newly released document was not signed, and officials have not confirmed that Epstein wrote it.
The Justice Department’s filing left the question unresolved, saying it did not know whether the purported note was legitimate.
Karas’s order placed the document into the public record, adding another court filing to the long-running public examination of Epstein’s final weeks and the official handling of records connected to his case.
