Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released a 238-page "birthday book" compiled for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 that contains letters, drawings and photographs bearing the names of numerous wealthy and influential people, including a lewd sketch and note attributed to President Donald Trump and a message attributed to former President Bill Clinton.
The book, which the committee says was presented to Epstein by Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring, was produced by the Epstein estate in response to a subpoena seeking a wide array of documents. The subpoena sought the birthday book, Epstein’s will, his 2008 nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida and financial records related to his affairs. Committee Democrats said the volume was organized into sections labeled family, friends, girlfriends and assistants.
One entry in the book shows an outline of what appears to be a naked woman surrounding a birthday message that reads, "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret," beneath which is what the committee says is a signature matching Trump’s. Trump has repeatedly denied creating the drawing or the note and sued The Wall Street Journal, its publisher and two reporters after the Journal first reported the existence of the item in July. The White House declined to comment directly on Tuesday; Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X that "it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it," and that Trump’s legal team would "continue to aggressively pursue litigation."
A separate page contains a note attributed to Bill Clinton, who is listed in the book as a "friend." The message praises Epstein’s longevity and curiosity and encourages him to "make a difference" and value his friends. Clinton has denied personal knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. Last month the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Clinton and other current and former officials — including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former FBI directors James Comey and Robert Mueller, and six former U.S. attorneys general — to appear for testimony. Committee officials said Clinton is scheduled to testify on Oct. 14. TIME and the House committee have sought comment from Clinton’s office.
The volume includes other entries that link Epstein to high-profile figures and recurring themes that have drawn scrutiny since his arrest and subsequent death in 2019. Peter Mandelson, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States and a longtime British politician, is credited with a 10-page entry in which he calls Epstein "my best pal" and recounts their friendship. A representative for Mandelson told the BBC that he "has long been clear that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein."
Many pages in the book contain sexually explicit or demeaning commentary about women. One drawing juxtaposes a scene of Epstein giving balloons to young girls with a scene of Epstein receiving massages from four women; a private jet described in public accounts as the "Lolita Express" appears in the background. The images underscore material that has been central to federal and state probes into Epstein’s conduct.
The book also includes what the committee describes as a jokey mockup involving President Trump. That entry, attributed to business figure Joel Pashcow, reproduces a photograph of Epstein and associates holding an oversized check of $22,500 bearing an imitation of Trump’s signature and a caption that mocks Epstein’s early "talents with money + women." Parts of that page are redacted in the release. TIME has contacted Pashcow for comment.
The release of the birthday book came amid ongoing political pressure to make public documents related to Epstein’s investigations. For years, people within Epstein’s circle and others asserted that undisclosed files would reveal wrongdoing by powerful figures; critics of the Trump administration pressed it to release records known broadly as the "Epstein files." The committee’s subpoena and the estate’s compliance brought at least one of those documents into the public record.
Epstein’s 2008 nonprosecution agreement, cited in the committee's subpoena, has itself been the subject of litigation and criticism for limiting federal prosecution and leaving many victims without notice. Epstein died by suicide in a federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on new sex-trafficking charges.
Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of facilitating Epstein’s abuse, has been a central figure in civil suits and criminal investigations tied to Epstein’s network. The birthday book’s contents, Democratic committee members said, provide additional documentary detail about Epstein’s social circle and the esteem in which he was held by some associates despite the allegations that would later become public.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee and others aligned with the president have questioned the significance of the book’s contents and sought to portray the materials as social ephemera rather than evidence of wrongdoing. Democrats contend the documents merit scrutiny as part of a broader effort to understand who benefited from Epstein’s wealth and the degree to which powerful people may have been implicated or complacent.
Legal battles over the book and related reporting are likely to continue. Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Journal seeks to contest the paper’s reporting that first described the drawing and signature. Committee Democrats said they released the book to allow public and congressional review; portions of the volume available to the public remain redacted for privacy and legal reasons.
The book’s publication adds to a patchwork of documents and testimony that House Oversight Democrats are assembling as part of a wider inquiry into Epstein-era records and the conduct of public and private figures who associated with him. The committee has said it plans additional subpoenas and interviews as it pursues materials that could illuminate financial ties, travel arrangements and the identities of people who visited properties tied to Epstein. The committee did not immediately disclose any further scheduled releases.
Representatives for Trump, Clinton, Mandelson and other individuals whose names appear in the book either declined to comment beyond previous statements or did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. TIME and the committee have provided some of the images and excerpts to news outlets and members of Congress but said certain portions remain subject to redactions and ongoing legal review.