Washington — Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Monday released a birthday message allegedly written by President Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The president has denied penning the message, which includes the outline of a woman's body.
The committee subpoenaed Epstein's estate in August seeking documents and other materials as part of its investigation into the U.S. government's handling of the case. The alleged letter from Mr. Trump was included in a book put together by longtime Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker, for his birthday in 2003.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that the committee "has secured the infamous 'Birthday Book' that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist."
"It's time for the President to tell us the truth about what he knew and release all the Epstein files. The American people are demanding answers," Garcia said, noting that Oversight Democrats are reviewing the contents of the book and "expect to release our findings to the public."
House Oversight Committee released 33,000 pages of Epstein material last week
Last week, the committee released more than 33,000 pages of files it received from the Justice Department on Epstein, which included flight records, court documents, and a missing minute of video footage of Epstein's cell block from before his death. Many of the documents were already in the public domain.
Still, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have sought the release of all the Epstein files. Last week, Reps. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, held a news conference with survivors of Epstein's abuse last week to call for more transparency, while urging their colleagues in the House to back an effort to force a vote to release the full files.
They need the support of just a few more lawmakers for their effort to succeed.
On Friday, Mr. Trump called the Epstein drama "a hoax" fueled by Democrats and again called for those seeking more materials to move on.
"The Department of Justice has done its job, they have given everything requested of them," he wrote on Truth Social.
House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Epstein's estate, ordered material to be submitted by Sept. 8
The subpoena compelled the co-executors of Epstein's estate to turn over by Sept. 8 more than a dozen categories of documents and communications to the committee, including Epstein's last will and testament, all nondisclosure agreements executed by Epstein and his agents between 1990 and 2019 and the contents of a leather-bound book put together by convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate, for his birthday in 2003.
In July, The Wall Street Journal reported that that book included a note with a drawing of a naked woman bearing Mr. Trump's name. Mr. Trump has denied writing the letter or making the drawing and filed a defamation lawsuit over the story.
"Recent reporting indicates the estate of Mr. Epstein has access to documents relevant to the Committee's investigation, including the alleged 'birthday book' prepared for Mr. Epstein by Ms. Maxwell," House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, wrote in an Aug. 25 letter to Epstein's estate accompanying the subpoena.
Separately, the committee also subpoenaed former attorneys general and FBI directors for testimony about the case. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were also subpoenaed as part of the effort.
Bill Clinton was among those who wrote a birthday message to Epstein for the book, the Wall Street Journal reported in July.
Growing interest in Epstein after DOJ review found no "client list"
Public interest in Epstein, a well-connected financier who was facing trial on federal sex trafficking charges when he died in federal custody in 2019, has swelled in recent months after the Justice Department issued an internal review in July saying it had found no "client list" or evidence that Epstein had blackmailed prominent figures–contradicting past statements by the Attorney General, Pam Bondi. The apparent reversal in the department's position has spurred calls for greater transparency from the Trump administration and divided the president's base.
The House Oversight Committee has been looking into the government's investigation into Epstein, and late last month, the panel issued a subpoena to Epstein's estate seeking documents and other material as part of its ongoing effort.
Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
