President Trump has denied writing or signing the note. ITV News’ US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports on what this release might mean for both Trump and the House Democrats
Democrats in Congress have released a sexually suggestive letter to Jeffrey Epstein, which they say was signed by President Donald Trump, a claim which he has denied.
Trump has said he did not write or sign the letter or create the drawing of a curvaceous woman that surrounds the letter.
He filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for a report on the alleged letter.
The letter was allegedly included as part of a 2003 album compiled for sex trafficker Epstein’s birthday.
The president has denied having anything to do with it. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee received a copy of the birthday album on Monday as part of a batch of documents from Epstein’s estate.
Trump has previously denied writing or signing the letter and creating the drawing, calling a report on it “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” Trump said.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement posted on X: “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.
“President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation.”
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted various pictures on X of Trump’s signature over the years and wrote, “It’s not his signature.”
The letter released by the committee looks exactly as described by The Wall Street Journal in its report.
The letter bearing Trump’s name and alleged signature includes text framed by a hand-drawn outline of what appears to be a curvaceous woman.
“A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the letter reads.
The letter’s disclosure comes amid a push in Congress for the release of the so-called Epstein files amid years of speculation and conspiracy theories.
Calls for the release of the records came from Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, before he was sworn into the country’s No. 2 position.
Epstein, a wealthy and well-connected financier, killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.
The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations.
Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.
Though he claimed they had a falling-out two decades ago, Trump’s ties to Epstein have been well-documented.
The US president said he kicked the disgraced financier out of his private club in Florida after Epstein betrayed him more than once by hiring people who had worked for him.
The president has not been accused of misconduct in connection with their social relationship.
The Justice Department in August began turning over records from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation to the House Oversight Committee.
The committee requested documents from the Epstein estate last month.
In addition to the birthday book, the committee requested Epstein’s last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.
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