A U.S. congressional panel on Monday released a redacted copy of an alleged "birthday book" given to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 along with the financier's will, portions of his contact books and what the committee described as a non-prosecution agreement.
The House Oversight Committee said the 238-page book contains messages and photographs from people in Epstein's circle and that entries span categories labeled "friends," "business," "science" and "Brooklyn." The committee said names under "family" and "girl friends" were redacted. A committee subpoena issued last month required executors of Epstein's estate to produce those materials, and lawyers for the estate subsequently provided documents to the panel.
Among the entries is a signed note that appears on page 165 and has a final line reading, "Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret," with a drawing of a woman's body around the text. The Wall Street Journal first reported the existence of that note in July. Former President Donald Trump has denied ever writing the message, and the White House said the president "did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it."
The committee said the released files also include entries that appear to be from former President Bill Clinton, who reportedly wrote about Epstein's "childlike curiosity" and his "drive to make a difference." The Clinton office did not respond to a request for comment cited by news outlets reporting on the release.
Other named contributors include Lord Peter Mandelson, currently the U.K. ambassador to the United States, whose entry the committee published alongside several photographs. An official spokesperson for Mandelson told reporters the former British minister "has long been clear that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein." There is no letter from Prince Andrew in the released materials, but the committee published an entry by an unidentified woman who wrote that through Epstein she had met Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump and claimed she had "seen the private quarters of Buckingham Palace" and "sat on the Queen of England's throne." Prince Andrew has previously denied wrongdoing.
Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican, issued a note accompanying the release criticizing Democratic members who earlier in the day posted pages they said contained the purported Trump entry. Comer said Democrats were "cherry-picking documents and politicizing information received from the Epstein Estate." Democrats on the committee had earlier made parts of the book public and said they planned to examine the materials as part of oversight inquiries.
The documents also include pages from Epstein's address and contact books spanning 1990 to 2019, photographs of Epstein across different settings, and images that show him with women whose faces were redacted. Some photographs depict scenes described by the committee as lewd and others show animals on a safari. The committee cautioned that the people whose entries appear in the birthday book are not accused of any legal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein's case.
Epstein, a financier who had cultivated relationships with prominent figures in business, politics and royalty, was convicted in 2008 on a charge related to procuring a minor for prostitution and later was facing federal sex-trafficking charges when he was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019; authorities ruled his death a suicide. The new release comes amid continued congressional interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein's activities, his estate and the scope of his contacts.
Legal and political effects of the documents are not immediately clear. The committee's public release of the redacted files follows its subpoena to the estate executors and reflects the panel's stated intent to examine records in the public interest. Republican and Democratic members of the committee have framed the materials differently, and officials from some of the individuals named in the documents have issued statements distancing themselves from Epstein or expressing regret for past associations.
Reporters and investigators continue to examine the newly released records. The committee said it will retain oversight of the materials as it assesses whether further document production or testimony is necessary.