Trump's alleged birthday note to Epstein released
WASHINGTON
A lewd birthday letter that Donald Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, which the U.S. president claimed did not exist, was published on Sept. 8 by a congressional panel investigating the late financier's sex crimes case.
The letter, a type-written message inserted into the sketched outline of a nude woman, was one of many notes sent by Epstein's friends that his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, now imprisoned, had compiled into a book for his 50th birthday.
The Wall Street Journal had reported on the existence of the book and letter in July, prompting a $10 billion defamation suit from Trump, 79.
The U.S. House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the book along with other documents from Epstein's estate, including bank records, as part of its probe launched this summer into the handling of the late sex offender's case.
Another letter in the book also mentions Trump, with a photo of Epstein holding an oversized $22,500 check. The signature on the check says "DJ Trump" but is very different from Trump's normal writing.
"Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells 'fully depreciated' [redacted name] to Donald Trump," reads the note.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept.8 that the letter from businessman Joel Pashcow referenced a woman who was courted by both Trump and Epstein in the 1990s.
Democrats on the panel published the copy of the Trump letter before the entire book was released, prompting accusations from Republican chairman James Comer of "cherry-picking documents and politicizing information."
