Epstein estate turns over ‘birthday book,’ other documents to House panel
The Epstein estate on Monday turned over a tranche of documents subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee, including at least one purporting to show a close relationship between the late sex offender and President Trump before he entered politics.
The records include the 2003 “birthday book,” including a lewd entry allegedly written by President Trump when he was a private citizen — a note Trump has denied writing.
According to Epstein’s attorneys, however, the files include no so-called client list, though it did turn over copies of his address book.
“Oversight Democrats just received the Epstein birthday book and additional documents from the Epstein estate. More soon,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, wrote on X.
The panel’s Democrats immediately shared a copy of the letter Trump wrote to Epstein for his birthday, showing the outline of a woman’s figure with a message in the middle referencing that the two “have certain things in common.”
“HERE IT IS: We got Trump’s birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn’t exist. Trump talks about a ‘wonderful secret’ the two of them shared. What is he hiding? Release the files!” the Democrats wrote in sharing it on X.
A White House official swiftly denied that it was Trump’s signature at the bottom of the drawing, but Garcia blasted the denial, accusing the president of engaging in a cover up.
“This note Donald Trump has said does not exist, but once again, he is lying to the American public and is leading a White House cover up,” Garcia said in a video message shortly after releasing the image.
The transfer has the potential to shed new light on the many elite relationships maintained by Jeffrey Epstein, the late child sex offender, and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years for crimes related to sex trafficking.
Behind Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), the Oversight Committee had subpoenaed Epstein’s estate last month seeking a number of documents by Sept. 8.
The subpoena asked for Epstein’s will; any documents resembling a “client list” related to Epstein’s sex trafficking charges; any “black books” containing Epstein’s contacts; the flight logs from Epstein’s plane and other rented aircraft; and an alleged book of letters from Epstein’s friends commemorating his 50th birthday, among a host of other records.
The assertion that there is no client list among Epstein’s documents aligns with earlier statements from the Justice Department, which said Epstein had no such list; however, the attorneys stated that they had attached his “address/contact books.”
“We are not aware of the existence of a ‘list of clients involved in sex, sex acts, or sex trafficking facilitated by Mr. Jeffrey Epstein,’” the estate’s attorneys wrote in a response to the subpoena obtained by The Hill, saying they had only his book of contacts.
“The Estate does not possess the original ‘Black Book,’ which may have been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the searches of Epstein’s residences in 2019. We do not know the origin of the handwritten notes in the copy.”
The birthday book, which was reportedly compiled by Epstein’s longtime associate and girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, includes a letter written by President Trump when he was a private citizen in New York, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A letter from the attorneys for Epstein’s estate indicated that they had already made some redactions to the materials they turned over, including the birthday book, with the unredacted materials to be made “available” to committee members for review.
“Included in this production are the three volumes comprising the leather-bound book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Mr. Epstein’s 50th birthday. Please note that, in an abundance of caution, we have redacted names and faces of women and minors who appear in the book (other than Ms. Maxwell, public figures, and family or class photos) to ensure that no potential victims are publicly identifiable,” the attorneys wrote.
“We have also redacted photographs revealing any nudity from the book. As agreed with the Committee, the Co-Executors will make the original “birthday book” and unredacted versions of documents, records and other materials available to Committee members and their staff for their personal examination and review.
The release comes as Trump, despite endorsing the publication of the government’s Epstein files, has more recently tried to shut down the release of any new documents.
In recent days, he has blasted Congress’s focus on the Epstein saga, characterizing it as “a hoax” promoted by Democrats to hurt him politically. On Friday, he took that criticism a step further, saying the Justice Department has “done his job” after delivering thousands of files to Comer’s committee.
“The now dying … Epstein case was only brought back to life by the Radical Left Democrats because they are doing so poorly, with the lowest poll numbers in the history of the Party (16%), while the Republicans are doing so well, among the highest approval numbers the Party has ever had!” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
Trump was known to have associated with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when both figures ran in the same elite social circles in New York and South Florida.
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Trump said the association soured and he cut off ties before Epstein’s first arrest on sex charges in 2006.
Comer requested the documents shortly before Labor Day.
“It is our understanding that the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein is in custody and control of documents that may further the Committee’s investigation and legislative goals,” Comer wrote last month in a letter accompanying the subpoena.
“Further, it is our understanding the Estate is ready and willing to provide these documents to the Committee pursuant to a subpoena.”
The Oversight Committee last week released some Epstein documents, but many were already previously released.
Those files included a court decision, videos from outside Epstein’s jail cell and of his Florida home, and audio files of the interview Maxwell did with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this year, all of which had already been made public.
Updated at 3:47 p.m. EDT