The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has received files from the estate of the late Jeffrey Epstein, including the so-called birthday book containing an alleged, racy message from President Donald Trump.
That book, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was compiled by Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell for convicted sex offender’s 50th birthday. The alleged message from Trump contains the outline of a woman’s body and includes the line, “we have certain things in common, Jeffrey.”
Trump has denied his association with the letter.
“The Oversight Committee has secured the infamous ‘Birthday Book’ that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel, in a statement. “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.”
The X account for Oversight Democrats posted an image of the letter, adding, “Trump talks about a ‘wonderful secret’ the two of them shared. What is he hiding? Release the files!”
Other documents included in the materials released to the committee Monday are Epstein’s last will and testament from 2019; the non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and the U.S. attorney’s office in South Florida; contact entries between 1990 and 2019; and information about Epstein’s bank accounts.
Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed the Epstein estate for materials as part of his committee’s investigation into the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein case. House GOP leadership has been leveraging the Oversight panel’s probe to push back against an insurgent effort led by Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie to force a floor vote that would compel the DOJ to turn over all files in the Epstein case in 30 days.
A spokesperson for Oversight Committee Republicans did not immediately provide a comment.
It’s not clear when the estate materials will be released publicly and to what extent there will be heavy redactions. The first tranche of materials the Justice Department sent to House Oversight included roughly 33,000 filesof materials, the vast majority of which had already been in the public domain. It exacerbated complaints from Massie and his allies, and most Democrats, that the piecemeal approach would not satisfy demands for transparency.
“Committee staff will review these documents and make them public in the near future,” the Oversight aide said.
