Jeffrey Epstein's purported suicide note released by US judge

A US federal judge on Wednesday released a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, in which the late child sex offender said it was "a treat" to choose "one's time to say goodbye". Epstein's former cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione claimed to have discovered the handwritten message in July 2019 during a suicide attempt that Epstein survived a few weeks before he ultimately died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019. The relatively short and unremorseful note appeared to lament the sex trafficking probe that he was facing at the time, while offering quips about his plans to end his life. "They investigated me for months -- FOUND NOTHING!!!" the note says. It later says "It is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye" and "Watcha want me to do -- Bust out cryin!!". The note ends by saying "NO FUN" and "NOT WORTH IT". Tartaglione had told The New York Times that he discovered the note, the authenticity of which could not be verified by the FT, in a graphic novel in his cell. New York City's medical examiner has ruled Epstein's death a suicide, concluding that he hanged himself in his jail cell. However, conspiracies have flourished in recent years about the circumstances of his death as the extent of Epstein's connections to rich and powerful figures from around the world have been revealed. Starting last December, the US justice department has released thousands of documents related to Epstein that have detailed new evidence of the late sex offender's ties to global figures from the UK royal family and government to the Trump administration to Wall Street. US President Donald Trump had originally resisted the release of the Epstein files, opening up a fracture within his own Maga coalition that has now been exacerbated by war in the Middle East. The furore over Epstein has contributed to a plunge in Trump's approval ratings this year, which has put Republicans in a difficult position as they try to hang on to their control of Congress in the November midterm elections.