Democrats in Congress have released a note allegedly signed by US President Donald Trump and sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
Lawyers for Epstein’s estate sent documents to the House Oversight Committee after they were subpoenaed last month.
Democratic members of the committee then posted a copy of the alleged letter on X on Monday.
The White House said the signature on the letter was not Trump’s. After the Wall Street Journal published details of the alleged note in July, Trump said it was “a fake thing” and denied writing it.
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” he said at the time.
“President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday. “President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation.”
The signed note says: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The committee last month issued a legal summons for the executors of Epstein’s estate to produce a number of documents, including a birthday book which contains the note purportedly from Trump.
Trump filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal’s reporters, publisher and executives, including News Corp’s owner Rupert Murdoch, after the newspaper published its story in the summer.
The newspaper’s publisher Dow Jones said at the time it had “full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of our reporting”.
On X, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted several images of Trump’s signature on Monday.
“Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!” Budowich wrote.
The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell created the birthday book for the financier in 2003.
It contained submissions from various Epstein acquaintances, including a note allegedly bearing the name of Trump, who was then his friend.
Trump and Epstein were friendly for years, but the president has said he fell out with him in the early 2000s after the financier poached employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Epstein was first criminally indicted in 2006 in Florida on a state felony charge of solicitation of prostitution. He died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.
