Epstein ‘birthday book’ set to be handed over to Congress, House Democrat says
The top Democrat on the House committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein case said Friday that the estate of the convicted sex offender will turn over a book that reportedly contains an explicit 2003 birthday message from President Donald Trump to Epstein.
The estate is set to include the contents of the book following a subpoena the Republican-led House Oversight Committee issued this week as part of its probe, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif, said on MSNBC.
“The estate is actually going to actually now get us that book and a bunch of other documents that they have that’s actually not been reported yet,” he said. “We’re gonna get those documents, as we understand it now, on September the 8th. And so that will continue our investigation.”
Garcia also said that “many of the victims” of Epstein will come to Capitol Hill next week to meet with lawmakers, which he said was to “highlight their stories” and “center the victims.”
The subpoena to Epstein’s estate, signed by Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., ordered the production of a series of documents by Sept. 8, including “all entries contained within the reported leather-bound book compiled by Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday.” It also called for any records that “could be reasonably construed to be a potential list of clients.”
Reached for comment on Garcia’s remarks, a spokesman for Comer told NBC News in a statement, “The Committee expects the Epstein estate to comply with the Chairman’s subpoena and deliver documents and communications, including a scanned copy of the reported birthday book, in its possession to the Committee.”
Representatives of Epstein’s estate did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.
The Oversight committee, which has also subpoenaed the Justice Department for files, ramped up its investigation after the DOJ and FBI thrust Epstein’s case back into the spotlight with an unsigned joint memo saying they would not be releasing any additional files.
The memo sparked an uproar among Trump’s base and even within his administration. Trump on the campaign trail claimed that the government had hid aspects of its investigation into Epstein, and he pledged to further transparency.
The situation escalated last month when the Wall Street Journal published a story saying Trump had sent Epstein a drawing of a naked woman as a 50th birthday message that Ghislaine Maxwell included as part of a leather-bound book with many other birthday messages from friends. Trump sued the Journal and its parent company’s owner Rupert Murdoch for libel, seeking at least $10 billion in damages, and said in a social media post announcing the lawsuit that the story was “FAKE NEWS.”
NBC News has not independently verified or seen the birthday message.
The Oversight committee this week also said that former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida when that office reached a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2008, will voluntarily sit for a transcribed interview next month.
The committee previously issued a batch of subpoenas for recipients such as former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director Robert Mueller.
A committee spokesperson said Friday that the panel was withdrawing its subpoena for Mueller due to “health issues that preclude him from being able to testify.”