Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have given Congress a copy of the birthday book put together for the financier’s 50th birthday, which includes a letter with President Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist.
On Monday, House Oversight Committee members confirmed that they received a copy of the birthday book including the letter bearing Trump’s signature and a second letter that references Trump with a crude joke about a woman from another Epstein associate.
The Wall Street Journal in July reported on the book and the letter bearing Trump’s name , which contained typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman. The letter concluded: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” The signature was a squiggly “Donald” below the waist, mimicking pubic hair.
Trump has denied writing the letter or drawing the picture, calling it “a fake thing.” He also filed a lawsuit against the Journal’s reporters, Journal publisher Dow Jones, parent company News Corp and executives, alleging defamation and saying the letter was “nonexistent.” A Dow Jones spokeswoman said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting.”
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said in a social-media post that Trump’s legal team will continue to pursue its defamation case against the Journal. “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 post on X.
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.
President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) September 8, 2025
The Trump administration’s shifting statements about whether it would release the files it has on Epstein have hung over the White House for months. On Sept. 3, Trump called efforts to make public more details about Epstein a politically driven hoax, just as some of the convicted sex offender’s victims visited Capitol Hill to tell their stories of sexual abuse and implored the president and Congress to release further records.
Allies of Trump have long sought release of Epstein-related materials, but the Justice Department said in July that there isn’t a client list of people who participated in Epstein’s trafficking of young girls, and new files wouldn’t be released. That determination triggered an uproar among some of Trump’s prominent supporters and efforts in Congress to seek the records.
Lawyers for the co-executors of Epstein’s estate turned over a copy of the birthday book on Monday in response to a subpoena from Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), the chair of the House Oversight Committee. In a July 25 letter to the Epstein estate’s lawyers, Rep. Robert Garcia (D., Calif.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) had pressed the estate to release the book.
“President Trump called the Epstein investigation a hoax and 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,” said Garcia, who is the committee’s Democratic ranking member. “Enough of the games and lies, release the full files now.”
Danielle Bensky and Anouska De Georgiou embrace during a press conference to discuss the Epstein Files Transparency bill, directing the release of the remaining files related to the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
In a social-media post Monday, Comer accused Democrats of “cherry-picking documents” from the Epstein estate and said he was focused on running a thorough investigation.
The birthday book given to Epstein in 2003—before his first arrest in 2006—was professionally bound and contained letters from dozens of Epstein’s then associates, including Trump, former President Bill Clinton and billionaire Leon Black, the Journal has reported. Some of the messages were anodyne birthday wishes, but others contained sexual references and suggestive drawings or photos.
The Epstein estate also turned over another letter from the book that references Trump. It came from businessman and longtime Mar-a-Lago member Joel Pashcow, who made a crude joke about a woman whom Epstein and Trump each courted in the 1990s, according to court testimony and people familiar with the matter.
The Pashcow letter included a photo of a posterboard-sized check for $22,500, which had been mocked up to appear that it was sent from Trump to Epstein. Beneath it, a caption said: “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women sells ‘fully depreciated’ [woman’s name] to Donald Trump for $22,500.” The woman’s name is redacted in the image.
The woman, a wealthy European then in her 20s, severed all ties with Epstein around 1997 and had no romantic relationship with either Epstein or Trump, her lawyer said. The lawyer added that she doesn’t know Pashcow and has no knowledge of the letter naming her, which he called a “disgusting and deeply disturbing hoax.” Pashcow and his attorney didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The woman became a point of tension in Epstein and Trump’s friendship, according to people who were close to Epstein. Epstein told these people that he believed the woman enjoyed spending time with him over Trump, and that he was bitter when she ended up choosing to go out with Trump.
Trump and Pashcow were listed under the “Friends” section in the book’s table of contents, along with Clinton and about 20 other associates , the Journal reported. Trump and Epstein socialized in the 1990s in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet, flight logs show. Epstein was photographed multiple times at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
When Epstein was arrested a second time in 2019, Trump said he hadn’t talked to Epstein in about 15 years. This summer, he told reporters that he had a falling-out with Epstein because his wealthy neighbor poached some employees from the Mar-a-Lago club.
The Justice Department informed Trump in May that his name appeared several times in the government files related to Epstein, the Journal reported . Many other high-profile figures also were named, Trump was told. Being mentioned in the files isn’t an indication of wrongdoing. The White House called the story “fake news.”
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com and Joe Palazzolo at Joe.Palazzolo@wsj.com
