Trump calls Epstein birthday letter a ‘dead issue’ after president’s alleged lewd drawing revealed: Live updates – UK Times

“I don’t comment on something that’s a dead issue. I gave all comments to the staff. It’s a dead issue,” Donald Trump said Tuesday when asked to respond to the “bawdy” birthday letter he allegedly sent to deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, which was made public by House Democrats Monday.

It would appear that Fox News has also decided to treat the latest Epstein bombshell as a “dead issue,” despite getting the opportunity to speak to the congressman in charge of the investigation into the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein case.

Of course, there’s nothing new about Fox News turning a blind eye to the furor surrounding the so-called Epstein files.

The Independent asked Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina about her thoughts on the release of the documents sent to the House Oversight committee by the Epstein estate.

“I am so goddamn sick being asked about a f***ing birthday card. Give me a break. What about the women who’ve been fighting for justice for 30 years and still don’t have it? How does writing about a birthday card do anything to get them justice? It doesn’t,” she said.

In a video posted on X on Sunday, the South Carolina representative — who is also running for governor there — described how one of the women’s testimony triggered a trauma reaction stemming from Mace’s own history of being raped.

“I was not prepared for what I was walking into. I thought I was, but really I wasn’t,” Mace said.

A letter allegedly sent by former President Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Epstein and included in his infamous “birthday book” was among the files released by members of the House oversight committee Monday.

The letter attributed to Clinton reads: “It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”

Angel Urena, a spokesperson for Clinton, previously issued a statement that read: “President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some time ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.”

Donald Trump’s alleged “bawdy” letter to Jeffrey Epstein that features a hand-drawn figure of a naked woman along with the president’s reported signature has now been made public after lawyers for the estate of the deceased sex offender provided a copy of the birthday book to the House oversight committee.

“President Trump called the Epstein investigation a hoax and claimed that his birthday note didn’t exist. Now we know that Donald Trump was lying and is doing everything he can to cover up the truth,” oversight ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said on Monday after House Democrats shared the image on social media. “Enough of the games and lies, release the full files now.”

The publication of the letter comes two months after The Wall Street Journal first reported on its existence, noting that the “bawdy” card was allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003 as part of a 50th birthday present to the now disgraced financier. The card features the figure of a nude woman with Trump’s signature seemingly mimicking pubic hair.

Justin Baragona has the full story:

The family of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre praised the House Oversight Committee for releasing the documents it received yesterday from the estate of the late sex offender, calling it a “step towards real accountability.”

“We want to express our gratitude to the House Oversight Committee for releasing the subpoenaed records provided by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate,” the statement said.

“Their commitment to truth and transparency is commendable, and the first step towards real accountability for our sister, survivors, and the many who have suffered in silence,” it added, calling the moment “a turning point.”

“The release of these files should not only incriminate the individuals who helped build Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s child and adult sex trafficking network, but also expose the systemic failures that allowed them to act unchecked,” the statement continued. “The evidence in these documents is a stark reminder of the trauma these survivors endured for far too long.”

“We call on everybody to take action: reach out to your representatives and demand the release of ALL the files related to this case.”

Giuffre, who had been one of Epstein’s most vocal victims about seeking justice, died by suicide earlier this year.

As Congress returned to session a week ago, so too did political scrutiny over the Jeffrey Epstein case.

By the afternoon, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee had published 33,295 pages of documents related to Epstein after it subpoenaed the Justice Department for the files.

While Democrats noted much of the material was already publicly available, the release reignited public interest in Epstein’s connections – compounded by the House Oversight Committee releasing the financier’s 50th birthday book on Monday.

Over the years, thousands of pages of records in the Epstein case have been released through lawsuits, Epstein’s criminal dockets, public disclosures, and Freedom of Information Act requests.

It includes revealing many of Epstein’s accusers and alleged victims, as well as people with only tangential connections to Epstein who were pulled into the lawsuit against Maxwell. While judges, court staff, and legal representatives are excluded, here are some of the names that do appear in the legal records connected to Epstein:

In more questions regarding the Epstein files, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt affirmed that the president is not an FBI informant, as Speaker Mike Johnson had said, and that there were no planned meetings arranged between Donald Trump and the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse.

Pressed about why the White House continues to call the Epstein case a hoax, and specifically how it is a hoax, Leavitt reiterated: “The president has one of the most famous signatures in the world… The president did not write that letter; he did not sign that document.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about one of the other documents released in the Epstein files, in which the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is seen holding an oversized check that was made out to him from Donald Trump, for $22,000 for a fully depreciated woman.

Leavitt firmly says it is not the president’s signature on the check.

As he stepped into the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, reporters asked the Louisiana Republican about the card, which includes a signature that looks similar to other times the president autographed letters and notes, in the decades before he was in office.

But Johnson disputed that the signature was Trump’s “Donald” Sharpie scrawl.

Eric Garcia reports from Washington, D.C.