House Oversight releases Epstein estate's 'birthday book'
Under pressure from Democrats, the House Oversight Committee publishes records turned over by Epstein's estate — including the 2003 'birthday book' with the letter attributed to Trump, Epstein's will, his address book, and the 2007 non-prosecution agreement — moving the most explosive material into public view.
On September 8, 2025, the House Oversight Committee released a trove of records that Jeffrey Epstein’s estate had turned over to investigators. The release came after Ranking Member Robert Garcia and committee Democrats pressed the estate to comply, and it put some of the case’s most sensitive material directly before the public for the first time.
What Was Released
The documents included Epstein’s 2003 50th-birthday album — the “birthday book” of letters and notes from his associates — along with his last will and testament, pages from his address book, and a copy of the 2007 non-prosecution agreement that Alexander Acosta’s office had negotiated. The estate produced the materials in response to the committee’s demands.
The Trump Letter Made Public
The most scrutinized item was the page bearing Donald Trump’s name that the Wall Street Journal had described in July. The released version showed a typed message — “a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret” — set inside what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a woman’s torso, with a signature reading “Donald” below. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted “President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.” The president maintained his denial and his defamation suit against the Journal.
The Partisan Fight
The release deepened the partisan trench warfare around the case. Oversight Chairman James Comer accused Democrats of “cherry-picking documents and politicizing information received from the Epstein estate,” while Democrats argued they were finally forcing into the open material the administration would have preferred to keep buried. The episode also demonstrated that Congress — not just the DOJ — could be a vehicle for disclosure, foreshadowing the leverage the discharge petition would soon apply and the rolling federal releases that began that December.