Trump-Epstein live updates: House Republican suggests autopen behind birthday letter ‘signed’ by president
Republican lawmakers rushed to Donald Trump’s defense after the House Oversight Committee on Monday released a sexually suggestive letter allegedly signed by the president in 2003 and sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
Democrats blasted Trump, with Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin calling the document “sickening.” The White House, however, claimed it’s “fake news.” Meanwhile, Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett said while leaving the U.S. Capitol on Monday that the note was “forged,” adding that “we’ve seen autopens used quite a bit.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported in July about the letter and accompanying drawing of a nude woman, punctuated by a swiggly “Donald” allegedly mimicking pubic hair. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case and vehemently denies authoring the note.
The letter was part of a birthday album compiled for Epstein in 2003 when he and Trump were friends. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the birthday book Monday after receiving a tranche of documents from Epstein’s estate.
Top White House aides pointed to discrepancies between the letter and Trump’s known signature, with his deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posting examples from the president’s first term on X.
Breaking: Trump calls Epstein birthday book ‘dead issue’ and declines to comment further
President Donald Trump declined to comment about allegations he wrote a sexually suggestive letter and accompanying drawing for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday more than two decades ago, calling it a “dead issue.”
“I don’t comment on something that’s a dead issue. I gave all comments to the staff. It’s a dead issue,” Trump told NBC News via phone call this morning.
Damage from Epstein birthday book ‘less than Democrats would have hope for’
As Congress returned to Capitol Hill last week, White House aides braced for the Jeffrey Epstein case to flare up.
The White House this morning shows little concern about the fallout from the House Oversight Comittee publishing a 238-page book, compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite and convicted sex offender, for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
One White House official told Politico this morning that the damage inflicted on Donald Trump and his administration is “much less” than Democrats might have hoped for.
“We were not naive to the fact there are Democrats back in town and a certain very small number of Republicans who are eager to talk about this — but I think the damage is actually much less than the Democrats would have hoped,” they told Dash Burns of the outlet’s Playbook newsletter.
Epstein birthday book joke surfaces about Trump ‘buying fully depreciated’ woman for $22,500
A joke about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein “selling” a woman to Donald Trump is included in documents released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee Monday.
The OversightDems X account shared an image of Epstein holding a novelty check alongside two men and a woman, with the caption: “Epstein and a longtime Mar-a-Lago member joking about selling a ‘fully depreciated’ woman to Donald Trump for $22,500.”
The oversized check was signed “DJTRUMP,” although it does not resemble Trump’s actual signature.
Beneath it, a handwritten note which The New York Times said appears to be written by former New York real estate executive Joel Pashcow, referred to Epstein’s “early talents with money and women” and jokes that the photo shows the disgraced financier selling a “fully depreciated” woman to Trump.
