Trump downplays his letter to Epstein released by Dems; calls it 'nonsense'

The document, shared on House Democrats' X account, reignited an uproar against the Trump administration for its handling of the Epstein case

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) once again denied writing a birthday message to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the letter, which was purportedly signed by Trump.

 

Speaking to journalists, Trump said, “It’s not my signature, and it’s not the way I speak, and anybody that’s covered me for a long time knows that’s not my language”, and called it “nonsense”.

 

According to a Bloomberg report, he accused the press of trying to distract from his administration’s “great success” by focusing on the document released Monday by House Democrats in response to a congressional subpoena of Epstein’s estate.

 

 

The document, shared on House Democrats’ X account, triggered uproar against the Trump administration for its handling of the Epstein case, a promise he made during the 2024 election campaign to release the documents as soon as he took office. However, earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice said that Jeffrey Epstein did not keep a client list, adding that no more files related to the case would be made public. The announcement drew criticism from both Democrats and some of Trump’s staunch allies. 

House Democrats release letter, White House denies

On Monday (local time), House Democrats posted the letter on their X account, which included a drawing of a woman and a lewd message written inside it. The Committee wrote, “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!”

 

Intensifying its attack on Trump, the Committee also highlighted Trump’s ties with the financier and wrote, “NEW PAGE FROM EPSTEIN’S BIRTHDAY BOOK: Epstein and a longtime Mar-a-Lago member joking about selling a ‘fully depreciated’ woman to Donald Trump for $22,500.”

 

White House Press Secretary denied the letter was released and said, “The president did not write this letter. He did not sign this letter, and that’s why the president’s external legal team is aggressively pursuing litigation against the Wall Street Journal, and they will continue to.” 

 

Previously, in an interview with NBC News, Trump dismissed the Epstein case as a “dead issue”.

 

The alleged letter was part of the 2003 birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein, the sexual offender, who killed himself in 2019 in Manhattan jail, while awaiting a trial.

Jeffrey Epstein case and Trump’s alleged ties

In 2006, Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier, was accused of sexual offences after the parents of a 14-year-old girl told Florida police that Epstein molested their daughter at his home. He was indicted in 2008 and pleaded guilty to two felony charges. According to a report in The New York Times, Epstein used to pay teenage girls for performing sexual acts and also used his associate and one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, to recruit and manage his stable of victims.

 

News reports suggest that Trump and Epstein were friends for years, who saw each other frequently at high-society parties in Florida and New York. An Associated Press report claimed that Trump’s ties to Epstein have been well-documented. However, the US President kicked Epstein out of his private club in Florida after the latter betrayed him more than once.