The House Oversight Committee has received its first batch of documents from the estate of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a note from a so-called “birthday book” of letters gifted to Epstein in 2003 that allegedly contains a provocative note bearing President Donald Trump’s name.
Democrats on the committee posted on X an image of the letter, which features typewritten text framed by what appears to be the outline of a naked woman and concludes with the phrase: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Below the drawing was what appears to be Trump’s squiggly signature. Trump has repeatedly denied writing the letter and sued the Wall Street Journal, which was first to report on the letter, for defamation.
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“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” he told the Journal at the time. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
The professionally bound volume was created for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 by his longtime associate, now convicted sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, and includes letters and drawings from dozens of Epstein’s acquaintances—such as former President Bill Clinton and billionaire Leon Black, the Journal reported.
The committee’s subpoena to Epstein’s estate had demanded a wide range of records, including the birthday book, Epstein’s will, his 2008 nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida, and financial documents. The inquiry is the latest in a string of congressional efforts to address questions left unresolved by Epstein’s 2019 arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges and his death by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell weeks later.
The panel has already obtained roughly 33,000 pages of records from the Justice Department, though Democrats have complained those disclosures contained little new information.
“The Oversight Committee has secured the infamous ‘Birthday Book’ that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel, in a statement. “It’s time for the President to tell us the truth about what he knew and release all the Epstein files. The American people are demanding answers.”
Taylor Budowich, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for communications, responded Monday to the image, writing on X that “it’s not his signature,” while posting several more recent examples of Trump’s signature.
Epstein’s connections to a broad swath of wealthy and powerful men have fueled years of speculation and conspiracy theories, particularly after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Justice Department said in July that it had no “client list” of people who participated in Epstein’s abuse. That announcement inflamed many of Trump’s allies, who have accused the government of concealing names and details.
Trump and Epstein were known to socialize in the 1990s in Palm Beach, Fla., when Epstein frequented Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club. Flight logs show Trump flew at least once on Epstein’s private jet. After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, Trump said the two men had fallen out 15 years earlier because Epstein had hired away some of Trump’s employees.
Read more: Amid Campaign, Trump Kept Epstein Issue at Arm’s Length. His Allies Did Not
He has sought to cast efforts to release more Epstein files as a politically motivated attempt by Democrats to damage him, calling the broader investigation “a hoax.”
“Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bulls—t. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it,” Vice President J.D. Vance said in a social media post on July 17. “Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?”
The public release of the so-called birthday book comes as a bipartisan pair of lawmakers are moving to collect enough signatures to sidestep House leadership and compel a floor vote on a measure that would force the Justice Department to release all of its files in the Epstein investigation.
Read more: What to Know About the ‘Epstein Files’ Fight in Congress
Reps. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, are spearheading that effort, and need just two more Republicans to reach the 218 signatures required to force a vote on the House floor. So far, only four Republicans—Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina—have joined the effort.