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Democratic congress members published a birthday note this Monday that was allegedly sent by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The document, which is said to have been included in a congratulatory book made by Ghislaine Maxwell, contains a drawing of a woman's body and a message signed with the name Trump.
The letter was sent to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee by the estate's lawyers for Epstein, following a court summons issued in August. The Democratic lawmakers shared the image on the social media platform X along with a comment questioning what "wonderful secret" Trump and Epstein might have shared.
"Happy birthday, and may each day be another wonderful secret", the text reads. "We have certain things in common", another excerpt from the revealed document states.
The White House responded immediately and rejected the authenticity of the document. The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, stated that “President Trump did not draw this image nor did he sign it” and emphasized that the president's legal team will continue with legal actions.
Trump himself had denied in July the existence of that congratulatory message, when the newspaper The Wall Street Journal published details of the note.
At that time, he characterized the information as "false" and announced a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, its editor, and the parent company News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch, in which he claims damages of 10 billion dollars.
On Monday, Robert García, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, stated that “Trump is lying and is doing everything possible to hide the truth,” according to a report from BBC.
In response, the Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House, Taylor Budowich, shared several images of Trump's actual signatures to demonstrate that the signature on the note does not belong to him. "That's not his signature, defamation!" he wrote on X.
Trump and Epstein were friends during the 1990s, although the current president has insisted that he distanced himself from him in the early 2000s, following a dispute at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Epstein was accused in 2006 of sexual crimes and died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The credibility of the disputed signature
Although the White House insists that the congratulation is fake, several pieces of evidence call that version into question.
The New York Times recalled that in 1997, Trump dedicated a copy of his book 'The Art of the Comeback' to Epstein with a handwritten note: “To Jeff – YOU ARE THE GREATEST!”. Furthermore, journalists and analysts have compared the handwriting and signature of the alleged letter with others signed by the president, finding notable similarities.
Trump's argument that he "doesn't draw" has also been called into question. In the 2000s, the then businessman created marker sketches that were auctioned off for the benefit of charitable organizations, which proves that he did indeed resort to drawing in public, as published by Reuters.
On the other hand, outlets like The Daily Beast and lawyers representing Epstein's victims have confirmed the existence of the "birthday book" compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, which included messages from various personalities. According to these sources, the document is currently under legal and political review, and its authenticity could become a key piece in the parliamentary investigation.
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