Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert. We're following this truly unusual government disclosure,

a jail note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein, linked to his suicide, is now out for the first time.

After years of being completely secret in the government vault, one of the many developments in this story that has people asking questions.

Tonight, I have a breakdown, factual objective on what we're learning

from that note. That's coming up, from the questions about his death to the irregular process

overseen, of course, by the Trump DOJ. We begin, though, with the system blinking red.

The DOJ has failed to win a single revenge case that Trump has demanded so far, many tossed and facing

court setbacks,

but the president's barreling forward, heading into the midterms with new calls for likely illegal

selective prosecution against his main opponent in these midterms. This is not normal, and we will not

treat it like it's normal. We will make sure that people understand that what you see on your screen

is a Putin-style crackdown, even if it's failing,

and a version of a potential abuse of power

to meddle with these midterms.

Trump calling to prosecute Democratic Leader Jeffries.

So, as voters assess a choice of who should run Congress, current Speaker Johnson or Democratic

Leader Jeffries, Trump is pushing to prosecute the Democrat who would be on track to become

Speaker if his party wins. And current polls favor the Democrats, which is worth about as much

as polling. We're not there yet,

but many Republicans have been retiring and bracing for a loss to the Democrats. I want to be clear

here up top, beginning of our news show here, of what this is. Donald Trump is recycling the

discredited playbook he's used before. He's using innuendo and know the noise,

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