WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Another trove of documents pertaining to dead predator Jeffrey Epstein has been released to the public, including a previously alleged book compiled for his 50th birthday with purported entries from many of his high-society friends, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.
The documents were provided to the U.S. House Oversight & Government Reform Committee by Epstein’s estate in response to a subpoena by Republican Chairman James Comer of Kentucky. While review of the contents is ongoing, the first item to garner attention was the birthday book,
In July, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was one of several people who contributed a “bawdy letter” to the birthday album in 2003, consisting of a printed dialogue between Trump and Epstein, within a crude hand-drawn outline of a nude woman, finished by a handwritten signature of Trump’s first name in a provocative anatomical placement. Among the dialogue were lines that the two “have certain things in common” and a wish that “every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump denied writing the letter, falsely claiming “I don’t draw pictures” (he has been known to doodle cityscapes but not women) and filing a $10 billion defamation suit against the Journal, accusing it of “knowingly and recklessly” publishing harmful falsehoods.
As reported by the Journal and other outlets, however, the latest document dump contains a copy of the entire birthday album, including the alleged Trump letter, of which the Journal published an image that matches its original reporting. The White House continues to deny Trump was behind the letter, and while the new story does not prove Trump himself wrote, signed, or knew of it, it appears to confirm Epstein really did have such a letter in his possession (whatever its origin), and that The Wall Street Journal did not originate or fabricate the charge.
Since the news broke, Trump supporters and opponents have taken to social media, poring over samples of the president’s signature from over the past several decades to support their dueling claims about the authenticity of the one in the Epstein book.
While the Trump dimension has occupied the lion’s share of the media attention, the birthday book also contained other notable contributions.
Joel Pashcow, a businessman and then-member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, contributed a joke about Epstein selling a “fully depreciated” woman to Trump for $22,500. Epstein reportedly told close friends he felt bitter about the woman, whose identity the Journal withheld, choosing to date Trump over him. An attorney for the woman said she never had a romantic relationship with either of them and did not know Pashcow but found the joke a “disgusting and deeply disturbing hoax.”
Former President Clinton, who was notorious for his own record of sexual misconduct during his career, also allegedly wrote Epstein a note on how “reassuring” it was “to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and (illegible), and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.” A Clinton spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the birthday message was genuine but simply reiterated the prominent Democrat’s past denials of any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes during their association.
The Journal and the Guardian reported that other prominent names to appear as contributors include Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the U.S. whose letter calls Epstein “my best pal”; attorney Alan Dershowitz, who previously admitted he may have contributed but didn’t remember; billionaire Leslie Wexner, who drew a pair of breasts for Epstein; billionaire Leon Black; and fashion designer Vera Wang.
Epstein killed himself in his cell at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in August 2019 while being held on charges of trafficking underaged girls to be raped by himself and wealthy associates in a high-profile case that was believed to implicate many prominent figures around the world.
The case has long been a source of concern due to the mysteries surrounding the billionaire financier’s private Caribbean retreat (dubbed “Pedophile Island” by locals), Epstein’s close association with major public figures such as Clinton, Trump, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; and the botched past prosecutions and lax punishment for his previous crimes. Epstein’s death ended any possibility of him naming any public figures who may have taken part in his crimes, sparking impassioned speculation online.
Many hoped that Trump’s election would bring with it new disclosures (egged on by MAGA personalities such as future Vice President JD Vance), but instead the issue has become a political headache for the administration. The White House elicited a backlash in February when several prominent MAGA influencers were invited for exclusive first access to what was billed as “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” but turned out to largely consist of old, already-public material.
After months of dueling and contradictory statements from administration officials about who was in possession of what and the state of the review, in July the Department of Justice and the FBI released a joint memo declaring the review complete, affirming Epstein killed himself after all, declining to release previously sealed material, and most controversially announcing, “This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Discontent swelled to outrage on social media, for reasons ranging from fear that there remain unidentified offenders evading justice to suspicion that powerful figures still had enough influence to maintain a cover-up to simple belief that influencers had gotten audiences’ hopes up by over-promising dramatic twists that reality was never going to match.
Taking on renewed relevance amid this tumult was Epstein’s former lover and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. In attempts to mollify critics, the Trump DOJ moved to re-interview Maxwell and have her grand jury materials unsealed, though a judge blocked the latter.
Days after speaking with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell was also transferred to a minimum-security facility (but not granted work release, contrary to online claims). Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, says she was moved to a “safer facility, especially after she faced serious danger in Tallahassee,” but some claimed it was a reward for agreeing not to divulge incriminating information about Trump’s ties to Epstein.
Trump and Epstein were friendly associates in the president’s days as a liberal celebrity businessman, through which Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet, but no evidence linking Trump to Epstein’s crimes has ever emerged, and in fact Trump eventually banned him from his Mar-a-Lago club for assaulting an underage girl (though Trump himself has strangely offered a less-flattering explanation for their falling out in recent months, that Epstein poached employees from him).
“I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein’s defense as his criminal lawyer nine days before he died. He sought my advice for months before that. I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump,” attorney David Schoen says.
The Trump administration has agreed to share more Epstein documents with the House Oversight Committee, but Trump himself declares the situation is a “dead issue.”
