Congressional Democrats on Monday released a sexually suggestive letter to Jeffrey Epstein that was purportedly signed by US President Donald Trump, although he has denied it is his signature.
Mr Trump has said he did not write 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 an earlier report on the letter, included as part of a 2003 album compiled for disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker Epstein’s birthday.
Democrats on the House oversight committee received a copy of the birthday album as part of a batch of documents from Epstein's estate.
Mr Trump has blasted the WSJ for claiming the letter was from him, calling the report on it “false, malicious and defamatory".
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” Mr Trump said after the story was released. He also said that "somebody could have written a letter and used my name, that's happened a lot".
The letter released by the committee looks exactly as described in the WSJ report, with the outline of a woman surrounding text that includes: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."
The letter’s disclosure comes amid a bipartisan push in Congress for the release of the so-called Epstein files amid years of speculation and conspiracy theories over the connection of high-profile figures to the disgraced financier.
Epstein died reportedly by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underaged 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.
Mr Trump’s ties to Epstein have been well documented, although he said they had a falling-out two decades ago. He has said he kicked the financier out of his private club in Florida after Epstein betrayed him more than once by hiring people who had worked for him.
Mr Trump has not been accused of misconduct in connection with their social relationship.
Many of his supporters believed he would uncover Washington's shady secrets when he came into office, including the files connected to Epstein. This year, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced there was no list of Epstein clients involved in the abuse of underaged girls and closed the book on conspiracy theories that Epstein had been murdered to keep him quiet.
Some Trump supporters have turned on the President over his and Republicans' apparent reluctance to release all files related to Epstein
