WASHINGTON — Top Republicans in Congress are unconcerned about a birthday card President Donald Trump allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing with his signature underneath — instead, they’re backing Trump’s claims that he did not sign the missive.
“I don’t,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in response to questions about whether he believes the signature is real. “They say it’s not.”
“There’s a dispute about whether that’s really his signature,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., similarly said. “So it’s just going to be argued back-and-forth.”
The White House was quick to respond to the letter, with several officials posting online to say that the signature does not match how Trump has signed his name on recent pieces of legislation. However, analyses by different news outlets have shown the signature on the birthday letter matches several personal letters Trump has written over the years.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who is leading the congressional investigation into the Epstein files, responded to the letter on Tuesday, echoing the White House’s stance that it’s not authentic.
“The president says he did not sign it, so I take the president at his word,” Comer said on Tuesday.
But will lawmakers investigate the document if it was truly forged? Unlikely, Comer said.
“We haven’t brought in signature experts or anything like that. The focus, again, is on trying to provide justice for the victims,” Comer said. “I don’t think the Oversight Committee is going to invest in looking up something (from) 22 years ago.”
Comer lamented that Democrats are using the alleged birthday letter to politicize the investigation — and accused them of distracting from providing justice to victims.
“This is about the victims, it’s not about embarrassing President Trump or Bill Clinton,” Comer said. “This is about the victims.”
The letter was released among a trove of other documents handed over by the Epstein estate earlier this week, and it was part of a larger “birthday book” that Epstein had collected for his 50th birthday. The 238-page gift contains birthday wishes ranging from handwritten letters to photos of young women — and even contains a drawing that appears to show young women giving Epstein a massage while lying in a beach chair.
Trump’s letter caught attention because of its own sexually suggestive drawing, as well as the line: “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.”
The book also contained a letter attributed to former President Bill Clinton that admired Epstein’s “childlike curiosity” and “drive to make a difference.”
The book is one of thousands of pages of materials being handed over to the Oversight Committee as part of its investigation, which Comer signaled will only ramp up in coming weeks. Comer told reporters on Tuesday the panel may begin to call some of Epstein’s associates to testify after lawmakers met with victims who shared details of their experiences last week.
“We were given some names by some of the victims when we met privately, and we’re trying to figure out who they are and how we can interview them,” Comer said.
