Democrats release suggestive letter to Epstein purportedly signed by Trump
Democrats on the House oversight committee on Monday released a sexually suggestive letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein purportedly signed by U.S. President Donald Trump after it was turned over to Congress by Epstein's estate.
Trump has said he did not write the birthday message or create the drawing of a curvaceous female figure that surrounds it. He filed a $10-billion US lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story in July.
The letter was included as part of a 2003 album compiled for Epstein's birthday. The president has denied having anything to do with it. Democrats on the House oversight committee received a copy of the birthday album on Monday as part of a batch of documents from Epstein's estate, and it was subsequently published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday afternoon.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted various pictures on X of Trump's signature over the years and wrote, "it's not his signature."
Trump called the previous Wall Street Journal report on the letter "false, malicious and defamatory."
"These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures," Trump said at the time.
The letter released by the committee looks exactly as described by the the Wall Street Journal in its July report.
Donald Trump has denied writing the birthday message that was first reported by Wall Street Journal
The president has denied having anything to do with it. Democrats on the House oversight committee received a copy of the birthday album on Monday as part of a batch of documents from Epstein's estate, and the letter was subsequently published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday afternoon.
"As I have said all along, it's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement posted on X. "President Trump's legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation."
The letter bearing Trump's name and signature includes text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a curvaceous female figure.
"A pal is a wonderful thing," the message attributed to Trump reads. "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."
The letter's disclosure comes amid a bipartisan push in Congress for the release of the Epstein files following years of speculation and conspiracy theories. Calls for the release of the records came from Republicans, including Vice-President J.D. Vance before he was sworn into the country's No. 2 position.
Trump's Epstein ties well documented
Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.
The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations. Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.
Trump's ties to Epstein are well-documented, though he has said they had a falling-out two decades ago.In July, the White House said Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for "being a creep."
On July 30, Trump said he cut ties with Epstein because he "stole" young women — including Virginia Giuffre, who was among Epstein's most well-known sex trafficking accusers, and who worked for the spa at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort under her maiden name, Virginia Roberts, while a teenager.
The Roberts family released a statement to The Atlantic magazine a day later, saying it was objectifying to refer to her as stolen, while pointing out that Trump and Epstein maintained a relationship for some time after Virginia Roberts left the employ of Mar-a-Lago.
Court records indicate Roberts worked at Trump's resort in 2000, two years before Trump told New York Magazine that Epstein was a "terrific guy" who liked women "on the younger side," and three years before the birthday card Trump disputes.
Trump has not been accused of misconduct in connection with his relationship with Epstein.
The U.S. Justice Department began turning over records from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation to the House oversight committee in August.
The committee subpoenaed the Epstein estate for documents last month. In addition to the book of birthday greetings, lawmakers requested Epstein's last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books and his financial transactions and holdings.