Oversight Panel Releases Birthday Letter Trump Allegedly Sent to Epstein

A congressional panel released Monday evening the first batch of documents from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, which included a letter allegedly sent to the sex offender by President Donald Trump. The letter formed the basis of a July report in the Wall Street Journal which prompted a defamation lawsuit from the president.

The Epstein estate provided the documents to the House Oversight Committee in compliance with a subpoena the panel issued last month, an Oversight Committee aide told National Review before the committee released them in full. The documents can be accessed online in their entirety.

Among the documents handed over by the estate is a book of letters Epstein’s girlfriend and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell compiled in 2003 for his 50th birthday, which contains a mysteriously worded note allegedly written by Trump.

Trump has called the letter fake and filed a defamation lawsuit against the Journal for running the story.

Trump’s legal team accused the Journal of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.” It noted that the reporters did not publish the letter or drawing that the story was about, saying “no authentic letter or drawing exists.”

Before the committee disclosed the entire set of documents, House Oversight Democrats released the birthday note described in the article, which is written on an image of a woman’s upper body. The Journal was the first outlet to report on the copy of the letter provided to Congress.

“The Oversight Committee has secured the infamous ‘Birthday Book’ that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist. 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,” said Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D., Calif.).

Garcia teased the letter’s release in media appearances ahead of the Epstein estate’s cooperation with the subpoena. Oversight Democrats later released another page from the birthday book that appeared to show Epstein and a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club joking around about selling Trump a “fully depreciated” woman.

White House secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the dissemination of Trump’s note to Epstein by accusing the Journal of publishing another fake story.

“The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false. As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it,” Leavitt said in a statement posted on X.

“President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation,” she continued.

Leavitt called out one of the Journal reporters who wrote the story for reaching out to comment at the exact same time the story was published, giving the administration no time to respond to it.

“This is FAKE NEWS to perpetuate the Democrat Epstein Hoax!” Leavitt concluded.

Leavitt’s statement followed a warning from White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich to Newscorp, the Journal’s parent company, for allegedly committing defamation.

“Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!” Budowich said.

The trove of documents also features Epstein’s last will and testament, the non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors in Florida, and entries from Epstein’s contact books from January of 1990 until his death.

House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) blasted his fellow lawmakers for jumping the gun and releasing the documents selectively.

“It’s appalling Democrats on the Oversight Committee are cherry-picking documents and politicizing information received from the Epstein Estate today. Oversight Committee Republicans are focused on running a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability for survivors of Epstein’s heinous crimes and the American people,” Comer said in a statement Monday.

Also included in the documents was information about Epstein’s bank accounts, including “the holders of the accounts, the financial institutions at which the accounts were held, and, to the extent known, account numbers and time periods in which the accounts were open,” attorneys for the executors of Epstein’s estate wrote in a letter reviewed by NR.

“President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing and Democrats are ignoring the new information the Committee received today. The Committee will pursue additional Epstein bank records based on this new information. Democrats must decide if their priority is justice for the survivors or politics,” Comer added.

Upon issuing the subpoena, Comer said Epstein’s estate was willing to hand over relevant documents to the committee. Documents pertaining to Epstein’s activities typically require redactions to protect victims and prevent the dissemination of child sex abuse materials. Epstein’s estate said it will continue producing relevant documents on a rolling basis.

The disclosure follows the Oversight Committee’s decision last week to release a set of Epstein documents from the Trump administration. Many of those files had already been publicized in litigation and other avenues. Epstein’s victims have called for maximum transparency from Congress and the Trump administration in publicizing the federal government’s files on the deceased sex predator. Last week, they met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to tell them their stories and discuss Epstein’s long history of abusing minors.

The Oversight Committee launched its investigation after Epstein’s pattern of abuse gained fresh scrutiny because of the Trump administration’s decision earlier this year not to release the government’s Epstein files. The administration received enormous backlash for keeping the Epstein files under wraps after President Trump promised to reveal them in full. Trump has repeatedly dismissed the significance of the Epstein documents and called them a “hoax” created by Democrats.

Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges in Manhattan. His death remains the subject of online fascination, with many disputing the official conclusion that he committed suicide. The Trump administration backed the official determination and said Epstein killed himself. In addition, the administration did not find a “client list” of Epstein’s associates or evidence that he used his sex trafficking network to blackmail elites. Epstein’s estate also said it was not aware of a list of clients who were involved with Epstein’s sex trafficking.

Trump and Epstein were friends for roughly 15 years, from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Their relationship ended prior to Epstein’s conviction in Florida on state-level sex crime charges. Epstein controversially avoided federal charges in Florida due to the non-prosecution agreement with federal authorities.

Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in association with his friendship with Epstein. Their friendship was a well-documented phenomenon before becoming the subject of national attention in recent months.

Alexander Acosta, the former south Florida U.S. Attorney responsible for the non-prosecution deal, is set to testify for Comer’s investigation in the coming weeks. Comer already subpoenaed several former Attorneys General, former President Bill Clinton, and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Former AG Bill Barr testified last month and said he saw no evidence Trump committed criminal activity during his friendship with Epstein, as NR previously reported.

Comer has been negotiating with Epstein’s longtime accomplice and girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell about having her testify later this year. Maxwell interviewed with the Justice Department in July and gushed over Trump as she seeks a pardon for her crimes. She is serving a 20 year prison sentence for sex trafficking offenses from her time with Epstein.