By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A birthday book from over 20 years ago is the latest development in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal that continues to dominate the conversation in Washington.
On Monday, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee released new records from Epstein’s estate, among them is a so-called “birthday book” from 2003.
The birthday book contains a letter allegedly signed by then-businessman Donald Trump, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. But the White House doubled down Tuesday, saying President Trump never wrote or signed the birthday letter.
In recent weeks, Trump has brushed off questions and criticism surrounding his relationship with Epstein, even calling the whole thing a “hoax.”
At a briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration would support bringing in a handwriting expert to examine the Epstein birthday card.
“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,” Leavitt said.
Meanwhile, pressure is building inside Congress. Democrats and four Republicans — led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — are pushing GOP leadership to force the administration to release all federal investigation files on Epstein. They are just a few signatures shy of the 218 needed to bring the issue to a House vote.
The vast majority of House Republicans have not signed on to that petition, citing the sensitivity of the matter and a reluctance to rush the process.
“When you rush to judgment in anything, the more you rush, the more you increase your chances of screwing it up,” said Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). “I am watching very closely all that oversight is doing and just keeping my eyes open and my ears open to what’s going on. I don’t want to rush to judgment on anything. This is too important on too many counts to rush.”
Other Republicans are raising questions about the timing.
“I’m kind of surprised that it took almost five years for people to wake up and say, ‘Hey, there’s something going on here we need to take a look at.’ My question is, where the hell have you been for the last five years?” said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.). “This is kind of a chase that I’m not sure has any kind of an end that anybody’s going to say, okay, fine, I get it.”
“I’m more concerned with the cost of everything right now,” Kelly added. “I’m more concerned with the things that really affect everyday Americans.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) made similar remarks when speaking with reporters Monday.
“I don’t think the Epstein thing is the big thing. I don’t know, release it. I don’t- but it’s strange, I mean, the Democrats, we’ve had that for four years. We didn’t release it — I don’t know why we didn’t do that,” Fetterman said. “This idea that suddenly that’s going to be the one thing that’s going to take out Trump, I don’t believe that’s what that is. He’ll still be here… it’s just a distraction, honestly.”
However, House Democrats continue to blast Republicans for refusing to sign on to Massie’s bipartisan discharge petition.
“If Republicans don’t want to engage in a cover-up of pedophilia and this pedophilia ring, they should go sign this discharge petition. A handful of Republicans is all we need. Democrats are all on board,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.
Along with the birthday book, the Oversight Committee also released a copy of Epstein’s last will and testament, entries from his address book and a 2007 non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
