Democrats within the US Home of Representatives have launched a birthday letter allegedly written by US President Donald Trump to intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein greater than 20 years in the past. The White Home shortly denied its authenticity.
The letter, circulated on Monday and showing to have been signed by Trump, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in July. On the time, Trump denied the existence of the missive. Now the White Home claims the signature just isn’t his.
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The birthday letter incorporates the sketch of a girl’s physique and the textual content of an ostensible dialogue by which Trump calls Epstein a “pal” and says, “Could day-after-day be one other great secret.”
US lawmakers additionally launched a replica of a “birthday e-book” given to the late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 whereas awaiting trial in jail on sex-trafficking fees.
What paperwork did the Home Oversight Committee launch?
The letter, which was turned over by attorneys for Jeffrey Epstein’s property in response to a subpoena from the Home Oversight Committee, was launched on Monday. It was included in a set of notes despatched to Epstein for his fiftieth birthday, in 2003.
The leather-bound quantity contained dozens of letters and sexually express photos, together with drawings by former girlfriends of Epstein receiving massages, in addition to pictures of zebras and lions having intercourse.
Contributors embrace former US President Invoice Clinton, the Harvard Regulation College professor and onetime Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and the now British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, amongst others.
Together with the e-book, lawmakers additionally launched a 2007 settlement between Epstein and federal prosecutors on the US Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of Florida, and virtually 30 years of entries in his private handle e-book.
That comes after the discharge of 33,295 pages of Epstein-related paperwork on September 2, principally offered by the Division of Justice in response to a subpoena issued by Home Oversight Committee Chairperson James Comer.
However Democratic lawmakers had criticised that launch, noting that the brand new information have been already publicly out there. On September 3, Anouska De Georgiou, an Epstein-abuse survivor, urged US lawmakers to return to a bipartisan decision to launch all of the Epstein information.
By means of the Epstein Information Transparency Act, Home Democrats try to get the federal government to launch all unclassified information within the possession of the Justice Division, together with these held by the FBI, US attorneys’ workplaces and different federal companies.
What has the White Home mentioned?
Trump has not commented on the be aware’s launch. On Monday, the White Home denied that the president had produced something for the birthday e-book and mentioned the signature on the letter didn’t match Trump’s.
White Home Deputy Chief of Workers Taylor Budowich denounced the discharge, denying the veracity of the signature and alluding to Trump’s lawsuit in opposition to the Wall Avenue Journal and its guardian firm, Information Corp, which first reported on the letter on July 17.
“Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!” Budowich posted on X.
Elsewhere, White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned “President Trump’s authorized crew will proceed to aggressively pursue litigation” in opposition to the Wall Avenue Journal.
Trump filed a lawsuit on July 18 in opposition to the paper’s reporters and executives, together with Information Corp’s proprietor Rupert Murdoch. He’s searching for $10bn in damages.
On the time, Trump denied drawing the determine or writing the be aware to Epstein, saying “The supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE.”
In response, a Dow Jones spokesperson mentioned: “We’ve got full confidence within the rigor and accuracy of our reporting.”
What are Democrats saying?
Epstein’s victims and a few Democratic members of Congress stay unhappy with the most recent slew of doc releases.
Referring to Trump, Home Democrats took to their official X account on Monday to notice, “What’s he hiding? Launch the information!”
Robert Garcia, the top-ranking Democrat on the Republican-led Home Oversight Committee, mentioned Trump had “claimed that his birthday be aware didn’t exist … Now we all know that Donald Trump was mendacity and is doing every thing he can to cowl up the reality”.
After lengthy suggesting the information contained damaging data on Democrat politicians, Trump reversed course after returning to the White Home in 2025. He has repeatedly labelled the matter a Democrat-led “hoax”.
What are MAGA figures saying?
For months, the Trump administration has been grappling with an escalating backlash over its dealing with of the Epstein information, after prime Justice Division officers backtracked on a promise to launch all the revealing materials concerning the case.
Certainly, conspiratorial factions inside Trump’s right-wing base have been angered by the obvious reversal, opening a rift throughout the Republican Get together, which has been stonewalling the Democrats’ Epstein Information Transparency Act.
After the Wall Avenue Journal story, nonetheless, Trump’s Make America Nice Once more (MAGA) motion has coalesced behind the president. On August 25, Jack Posobiec, an alt-right activist, mentioned on X, “We’re so again. The MAGA motion is totally united.”
In the meantime, Benny Johnson, a outstanding conservative podcaster, took to X to cast doubts over the validity of the signature of the letter: “Is that this actually the very best they may do? Trump has probably the most well-known signature on the earth. Time to sue them into the oblivion.”
