The House Oversight Committee has obtained its first batch of documents from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a controversial entry in a so-called “birthday book” that Democrats say bears the name and signature of former President Donald Trump.
The professionally bound volume, compiled in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday by his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, features contributions from dozens of Epstein’s acquaintances, including former President Bill Clinton and billionaire financier Leon Black. Among the pages, Democrats released an image of a typewritten note framed by the outline of a nude woman, concluding with the words: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Beneath the drawing is what appears to be Trump’s scrawled signature.
Trump has long denied writing the note, telling The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on it, that the message was fabricated. “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words,” he said, later suing the paper for defamation.
Democrats also released another page from the book, which they said shows Epstein joking with a longtime Mar-a-Lago member about “selling” a “fully depreciated” woman to Trump for $22,500. The image includes a photograph of Epstein holding a check made out for that amount, signed “DJTRUMP.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat, said the disclosures raise fresh questions. “The Oversight Committee has secured the infamous ‘Birthday Book’ that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist. It’s time for the President to tell us the truth about what he knew and release all the Epstein files,” Garcia said.
The documents were delivered in response to a subpoena seeking Epstein’s birthday book, will, his 2008 non-prosecution agreement with Florida prosecutors, and financial records. The panel has already received some 33,000 pages from the Justice Department, though Democrats have complained much of it contained little new information.
Trump’s team swiftly rejected the authenticity of the note. Taylor Budowich, White House deputy chief of staff for communications, said on X: “It’s not his signature,” sharing recent examples of Trump’s handwriting. Vice President J.D. Vance dismissed the story as “complete and utter bulls—t,” accusing Democrats of weaponizing Epstein’s legacy for political gain.
Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking charges, was known to socialize with Trump in the 1990s in Palm Beach, Florida. Flight records show Trump flew once on Epstein’s private jet. Trump has said the two men fell out in the early 2000s.
The release of the book comes as bipartisan lawmakers push for broader transparency. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are leading an effort to force a House vote compelling the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related records. They are two Republican signatures short of the 218 needed to succeed.