US lawmakers have released copies of a so called “birthday book” gifted to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, which contains a note allegedly signed by President Donald Trump.
The release, part of a trove of subpoenaed documents sent by lawyers for Epstein’s estate to the House Oversight Committee, also includes Epstein’s will and his personal address book listing politicians, royalty, celebrities, and business leaders from around the world.
The White House has strongly denied that the note attributed to Trump is authentic, insisting the president “did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.” The note reportedly features a drawing of a woman’s body along with a message ending with: “Happy Birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday by his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell who was convicted in 2021 for conspiring with Epstein to traffic girls for sex the 238-page scrapbook, titled “The First Fifty Years,” contains messages, photographs, satirical sketches, and private jokes from friends, associates, and public figures linked to Epstein at the time. Among them are alleged notes from both Trump, who was friendly with Epstein in the early 2000s, and former President Bill Clinton.
Trump has repeatedly denied writing the message, calling it “a fake thing,” and has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the note in July, along with its reporters and executives. His legal team maintains that the handwriting and signature do not match his own.
Democratic members of the Oversight Committee, however, published an image of the note on X, accusing Trump of lying. Ranking Democrat Robert Garcia stated, “Trump claimed that his birthday note didn’t exist. Now we know that Donald Trump was lying and is doing everything he can to cover up the truth.”
Alongside the scrapbook, lawmakers also released nearly 30 years of entries from Epstein’s personal address book and a 2007 non-prosecution agreement he struck with federal prosecutors in Florida.
Committee chairman James Comer accused Democrats of “cherry-picking” documents for political gain, while Republicans pledged to continue investigating in order to provide “transparency and accountability” for Epstein’s victims.
Trump and Epstein maintained a social relationship for several years before reportedly falling out in the early 2000s over staffing disputes at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Epstein was first indicted in Florida in 2006 on charges of soliciting prostitution and later died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
