The controversy over U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation entered a new dimension on Thursday, as his administration struggles to make good on its promises to release details on the sex-trafficking case involving a one-time friend of the now-president.
Trump promised a lawsuit after the Wall Street Journal described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied writing the letter, calling it “false, malicious and defamatory.”
CBC News has not verified the Wall Street Journal report independently.
It came after Trump in recent days has berated as “weaklings” supporters vying for more records from the Epstein probe, after years of courting political support from those who have stoked claims of a coverup in the case to protect wealthy friends of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 awaiting trial on federal charges of trafficking of underage girls.
Trump has also shielded his attorney general from being questioned about the case after she walked back claims of the existence of a “client list” of elites who participated in Epstein’s crimes, and he has even taken to claiming without evidence that files were doctored by Democrats.
Transcripts to be released
In an administration that prides itself on changing the narrative on negative storylines, the Epstein saga has had remarkable staying power, thanks in part to infighting at high levels of government, Trump’s blistering criticism of his own base and the head-scratching mystery of why documents his own administration promised to unlock will remain buried — seemingly for good.
Thursday’s disclosure — coupled with frustration from Trump-allied lawmakers on Capitol Hill — pushed the Republican president to abruptly reverse course and direct U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to try to make some of the documents in the case public.
Bondi said she would seek court permission on Friday to release grand jury information, but it would require a judge’s approval, and she and Trump were silent on the additional evidence collected by federal law enforcement in the sprawling investigation that Bondi last week announced she would not release.
The letter revealed by the Wall Street Journal was reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a birthday album for Epstein, three years before the wealthy financier was first arrested in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Trump.
Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and convicted a year later on charges that she helped Epstein lure girls to be sexually abused.
The letter bearing Trump’s name includes text framed by the outline of what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the newspaper. The outlet described the contents of the letter but did not publish a photo showing it entirely.
‘I don’t draw pictures’: Trump
Trump slammed the story in a lengthy social media post on Thursday night, saying he spoke to both the paper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, and its top editor, Emma Tucker, and told them the letter was “fake.” Trump promised to sue the paper over the story, saying: “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures.”
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance said the newspaper “should be ashamed” for publishing it.
“Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?” he wrote on social media platform X.
The Trump administration has been struggling for nearly two weeks to contain the fallout of the U.S. Justice Department’s announcement that no more Epstein evidence in the government’s possession would be released to the public despite promises of transparency from Bondi.
The Justice Department’s reversal on the Epstein files not only angered Trump supporters but touched off a testy exchange at the White House last week between Bondi and FBI deputy director Dan Bongino that neither official has publicly addressed.
The department has yet to provide a full accounting of its reversal months after Bondi handed out binders to conservative influencers at the White House that read “Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “the most transparent administration.” Bondi earlier this week refused to answer questions from reporters about the Epstein files and her relationship with Bongino.
