Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein's estate have provided Congress with a copy of the birthday book compiled for the financier's 50th birthday, which includes a letter allegedly with Donald Trump's signature that he has said doesn't exist, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The Trump administration has denied that the signature is that of the president.
On Monday, House Oversight Committee members confirmed that they received a copy of the birthday book, including the letter with Trump's alleged signature and a letter that references a crude joke about a woman from another Epstein associate.
"President Trump called the Epstein investigation a hoax and claimed that his birthday note didn't exist," said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is the committee's Democrat ranking member. "Now we know that Donald Trump was lying and is doing everything he can to cover up the truth. Enough of the games and lies, release the full files now."
Trump has denied writing the letter or drawing the picture, calling it "a fake thing" when The Wall Street Journal first reported on the book and the letter in July. 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."
On Monday, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich denied the allegations and posted several images of Trump's signature on X. "Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it's not his signature. DEFAMATION!" Budowich wrote.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.