Donald Trump sued The Wall Street Journal in July over a story about a lewd birthday note the paper reported he sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s. The president insisted the note did not exist, calling it a “fake thing.”
Well, the note does exist, and the Journal published a picture of it on Monday, noting that Epstein’s estate provided it to Congress. House Democrats released an image of the salacious birthday note shortly after the Journal published its story.
The missive was part of a book of notes written to Epstein in celebration of his 50th birthday. Trump’s note — which suggested that he and Epstein had “certain things in common” — was framed within the crudely drawn outline of a naked woman, with the president’s scribbled, spiky signature placed where pubic hair might appear.
Trump told the Journal at the time that there was no way he had ever written or drawn such a note. “This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story,” he said. “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women … It’s not my language. It’s not my words.” In July, Trump told reporters that “somebody could have written a letter and used my name, but that’s happened a lot.”
The president’s lawsuit against the Journal accused the paper of having “knowingly and recklessly published the numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements” by reporting on the existence of the note.
Vice President J.D. Vance jumped to his defense after the initial story, questioning the existence of the letter and who had written it.
“Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bullshit. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it,” Vance wrote on X. “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?”
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In the aftermath of the Journal’s reporting on the existence of the birthday book, sources close to the president told Rolling Stone that Trump’s team had gone “on a fucking warpath” to kill the Journal’s report before publicantion, but the story will not die despite the president’s fury.
“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,” House Oversight Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia (D., Calif.) told the Journal on Monday. “Enough of the games and lies, release the full files now.”
From Rolling Stone US
