The White House on Monday condemned the public release of a compilation of notes and images from a birthday book created for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, after a Republican-led House Oversight Committee made the full volume public following a limited release of a single page earlier this month.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called reporting about an alleged page from President Donald Trump "FAKE NEWS" on social media, after Democrats on the committee earlier released only the page attributed to Trump. The White House and Trump aides have maintained the signature and sketch on the page are not the president’s. Trump told NBC News on Tuesday that he would not comment further, calling the matter "a dead issue." The president is suing News Corp., parent company of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, after the Journal described the page and accompanying illustration in July.
The full book was provided to Congress by Epstein’s estate and released publicly Monday evening by House Oversight. The volume contains contributions that the estate has attributed to dozens of people in categories labeled "Friends," "Business" and "Science," including notes and illustrations that make light of Epstein’s attraction to young women and girls, according to images and transcriptions circulated by the committee.
Among the items are a note attributed to former President Bill Clinton praising Epstein for his "childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference, and the wealth of friends," and a note attributed to former Harvard dean Henry Rosovsky that includes an impression described as the fingerprint-style image of a woman’s breast. An unsigned illustration depicts Epstein holding a lollipop and balloons in a cartoonish scene suggesting enticement of schoolchildren.
Entries attributed to other high-profile figures include a passage ascribed to Alan Dershowitz, then a Harvard law professor, that references obtaining an "early version" of a magazine article about Epstein; an image attributed to Leslie Wexner described as depicting a breast with the caption "what you want"; and a photograph attributed to Peter Mandelson showing him in a bathrobe beside Epstein with a note that the financier "remains my best pal." A spokesperson for Mandelson told the BBC he "very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein." Several names and some passages in the table of contents and inside the volume were redacted by the estate before it was handed to Congress.
The House Oversight release follows months of renewed attention to Epstein’s network after Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a large-scale review this year of records tied to the case. Bondi released a memo in July saying that while the Department of Justice had assessed that Epstein had victimized more than 1,000 women and girls, the records did not show an organized client list and did not produce "evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties," a finding that intensified pressure from pro-Trump activists and some members of Congress seeking more disclosures.
Some of the contributions in the book were overtly sexual or mocking, and other names listed among contributors include financiers and executives such as Leon Black, Joel Pashcow, Mort Zuckerman and the late Jean-Luc Brunel. An image attributed to Pashcow purportedly mocked up Epstein selling a woman to Trump for a sum; a lawyer for the woman depicted in the background of that image has called the note a "disgusting and deeply disturbing hoax" and said she had severed ties with Epstein years earlier.
Epstein, a financier who had cultivated relationships with powerful figures across politics, business and academe, was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who was convicted for her role in Epstein’s abuse and recruiting, is serving a 20-year federal sentence. Maxwell has repeatedly said she did not know of certain misconduct by others in Epstein’s orbit and sought a pardon from President Trump during his administration, according to court filings and reporting.
Trump’s team has said he cut ties with Epstein in the mid-2000s after discovering Epstein had recruited masseuses from Mar-a-Lago, and Trump’s public statements reiterate that he was not involved in Epstein’s criminal behavior. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that the handwriting on the page attributed to Trump was consistent with some of his prior autographs; the White House has disputed that characterization and said Trump’s legal team would continue to pursue litigation against the publisher.
House Republicans have said the release of the book is part of their oversight work; Democrats on the panel in recent days had circulated only the page attributed to Trump. Lawmakers and outside groups have continued to press for additional documents related to Epstein’s activities and financial dealings, and the release of the birthday book is likely to renew demands for further disclosures and for interviews with people connected to Epstein’s social circles.
The release of the book adds new public detail to the social network Epstein cultivated and the ways some associates commemorated his birthday. While the submissions include lighthearted or jocular entries, they have become politically charged as lawmakers, victims’ advocates and media outlets scrutinize whether appearances in social documents reflect deeper involvement in and knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. The Oversight Committee did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on the provenance of every page or the estate’s process for redactions.
Prosecutors and civil litigants have pursued numerous investigations and claims related to Epstein’s activities since his death. The GOP-led committee’s publication of the birthday book aligns with a broader congressional focus on the scope of Epstein’s contacts, while Justice Department officials and other investigators continue to review related leads and documents that have surfaced across multiple jurisdictions.