A lewd birthday message bearing what the House Oversight Committee says is President Donald Trump’s signature was disclosed Monday as part of documents turned over from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, prompting renewed scrutiny of the former president’s past ties to the late financier.
Oversight Committee Democrats released an image from a binder of messages assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday that they say includes a drawing with Trump’s signature. The committee said the material was among tens of thousands of pages of records provided to Congress in recent weeks as part of an investigation into Epstein’s activities.
Democrats said the binder — reportedly assembled by Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s crimes — contains drawings, photos and handwritten notes solicited from friends and acquaintances for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Multiple media organizations have reported that the collection includes messages from a number of well-known figures; those reports say the binder was scanned and later turned over to investigators.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said in a statement that Trump had called the investigation a "hoax" and denied the existence of such a note, and that the release of the item showed the president had not been truthful. "Now we know that Donald Trump was lying and is doing everything he can to cover up the truth," Garcia said, calling for the full release of related files.
Trump has denied the note’s authenticity and previously called the material "fake." He filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal after the paper first reported the existence of the birthday message. On his social platform, Truth Social, Trump on Friday criticized Democrats for pursuing the Epstein materials, saying they "did nothing about Jeffrey Epstein while he was alive" and questioned their motives in focusing on the records now.
Attorney General Pam Bondi provided the Oversight Committee with roughly 33,000 pages of documents that the panel reviewed and began releasing publicly on Sept. 2, 2025, according to the committee. Republicans on the panel, led by Chairman James Comer, have overseen the review. Democrats on the committee have said that only about 3% of the material released contained information not previously public and that most of the newly unredacted details were Customs and Border Protection flight logs documenting Epstein’s private jet travel between 2000 and 2014.
The release of the binder image comes amid heightened attention on the files and on the House investigation into Epstein’s network. Some members of Congress have described emotional closed-door sessions with victims; Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican, was reported to have left one such meeting in tears. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, another Republican, addressed reporters during a news conference about the documents.
Maxwell collected messages for the binder, according to multiple reports, and gave the bound album to Epstein in 2003. The extent to which the binder’s contents corroborate or change the factual record of Epstein’s contacts is not yet clear; investigators and news organizations continue to review voluminous materials that have been turned over to Congress.
The Oversight Committee release of the image and related documents adds to ongoing legal and political disputes over the handling and public disclosure of materials tied to Epstein. Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal remains pending. Epstein died in 2019; Maxwell was convicted and is serving a federal prison sentence.
The matter is developing, and the Oversight Committee and other authorities may release additional records or statements as reviews continue.