Headline Roundup • September 9th, 2025
House Oversight Committee Releases Epstein Birthday Letter Allegedly Signed by Trump
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Monday, the House Oversight Committee released a birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that was allegedly signed by President Donald Trump.
The Details: The note was in a 238-page book given to Epstein, the late convicted pedophile financier, in 2003. The book was put together by ex-girlfriend and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday, and released by the House Oversight Committee along with a trove of documents that include Epstein's personal address book and his will. The White House denies that the note, which included an outline sketch of a woman's body, was authored or signed by Trump. Meanwhile, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a second page from the birthday book that shows Epstein and a longtime Mar-a-Lago member joking about selling a "fully depreciated" woman to Trump for $22,500. The book also contains a letter from former President Bill Clinton which appears to praise Epstein's “childlike curiosity," and the "drive to make a difference."
Key Quote: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X, "The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire 'Birthday Card' story is false. 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. This is FAKE NEWS to perpetuate the Democrat Epstein Hoax!"
For Context: The House Oversight Committee has been probing into the Department of Justice's (DOJ) handling of the Epstein case, and the drawing was in the files obtained from his estate. The release of the Epstein files comes as Trump faces pressure for more transparency, even from some Republicans, on what was learned from those files. Epstein committed suicide in this jail cell on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
How the Media Covered It: The New York Times (Lean Left bias) reported that Democrats are seizing on the drawing to renew their demand for the Trump administration to divulge all the Epstein files. It also noted that while the White House has shared photos showing Trump's signature to be more angular than the one in the note, the Times has also reviewed several pieces of correspondence from Trump decades ago with just his first name that look similar to the signature on the drawing. The Washington Times (Lean Right) noted that Trump's past socializing with Epstein does not show any evidence of wrongdoing on Trump's part.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
The Post Millennial
The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported that Jeffrey Epstein's estate had provided to Congress "a copy of the letter" the Journal says was written by Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. That letter was part of a "birthday book" of letters presented to Epstein on the occasion of his 50th birthday.
That image shows a drawing of a nude woman's silhouette with text, the signature, "Donald," where the woman's pubic hair would be. The Journal provided the copy to Congress in response to a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee,...
An image of the letter bearing Trump’s signature, which has been turned over to Congress by the Epstein estate.
Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have given Congress a copy of the birthday book put together for the financier’s 50th birthday, which includes a letter with President Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist.
On Monday, House Oversight Committee members confirmed that they received a copy of the birthday book including the letter bearing Trump’s signature and a second letter that references Trump with a crude joke about a woman from another Epstein associate.
...
A key congressional committee on Monday released a note and sexually suggestive drawing containing what appeared to be Donald J. Trump’s signature that was included in a book for the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 — a drawing that Mr. Trump has insisted he did not create.
The drawing — a figure of a naked woman with “Donald” written below her waist — was part of a batch of documents turned over by Mr. Epstein’s estate to the House Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed them. The panel...
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