The bipartisan House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform this week released 238 pages from a book of drawings and notes gifted to convicted serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by his wife and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, for his 50th birthday. Bearing the signatures of Donald Trump, financier and current Museum of Modern Art trustee Leon Black, and Wexner Center for the Arts’s namesake Leslie Wexner, among others, the trove of often crude and cryptic missives paints a disturbing picture of Epstein’s social circle as the United States government attempts to deflect public pressure to release the so-called Epstein files.
The news of the existence of a lewd note allegedly drafted by Trump for the birthday book was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in July, but this is the first time it has been released to the public. The note takes the form of a dialogue between Trump and Epstein inscribed within an outline of a woman’s body. “May every day be another wonderful secret,” the script ends, signed — characteristically — “Donald.”
The suggestive note that Trump has denied creating or signing.
The White House referred Hyperallergic to a statement from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denying Trump’s authorship of the message. The administration has vehemently rejected that Trump drew the nude woman in the note, which appears to be printed, and claimed that the president had not signed it, though reporters have drawn parallels between the drawing’s signature and the president’s known autograph. Trump sued the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion over their initial report.
An unsigned drawing depicts Epstein flying between his private island, Palm Beach, New Mexico, and New York.
The suggestive letter is one of scores of notes and drawings attributed to Epstein’s friends, family members, associates, girlfriends, and assistants, included in the book. Many in the disgraced former financier’s circle opted to reference Epstein’s proclivity for breasts, young women, and secrecy in a series of amateur collages and sketches, providing a visual representation of how those close to Epstein perceived him.
One of the most overt allusions to Epstein’s criminal behavior in the book is a drawing that depicts Epstein handing lollipops to young girls and later receiving apparently sexual massages. The image is unsigned.
An unsigned collage released by Congress
Among the contributors listed as “friends” in the birthday book’s table of contents were Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Leon Black, and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. The faces and names of all of the women listed as “girlfriends” have been redacted in the copy released by Congress.
In a note signed by “Leon,” the author writes in a poem, “Green eyeshades, schemes and plans, a unique tax strategy/Wet dream and cauchemar.” (“Cauchemar” is the French word for nightmare.) Black’s financial ties to Epstein for tax services have come under suspicion in recent months by Senate Committee on Finance ranking member Ron Wyden. Black’s spokesperson declined to comment on the letter.
Leon Black’s supposed note to Epstein
The book also contained a photograph of Epstein holding a giant check with what appears to be Trump’s signature. Below it, an unsigned note claims that Epstein sold a “fully depreciated [redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500.” The note’s author wrote: “I handled the deal and I didn’t get any of the money or the girl!”
Former Victoria’s Secret CEO Leslie Wexner apparently drew Epstein a set of breasts with the brief note, “I wanted to get you what you want … So here it is.” Former Harvard Dean and economist Henry Rosovsky, whom Ghislaine Maxwell named as a “massage” recipient in July, created a more abstract drawing “in honor of Epstein’s Barfday.”
Birthday notes bearing the signatures of economist Henry Rosovsky (left) and Leslie Wexner, former CEO of Victoria’s Secret (right)
Former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold is also named in the book. A message signed “Nathan” accompanies photos of copulating safari animals, which the author writes “seemed more appropriate than anything I could put into words.” Hyperallergic has attempted to contact a representative for Myhrvold for comment.
The “birthday book” was acquired by the House Oversight Committee through a subpoena of Epstein’s estate, according to the group’s leading Democrat, Robert Garcia of California’s 42nd district. Committee Democrats celebrated the retrieval of the documents and posted excerpts on X yesterday, claiming that the scans are proof that Trump lied about his birthday card. Republicans in the House Oversight Committee accused the Democrats of cherry-picking documents and released all 238 pages to the public in a press release.
Though the birthday book appears to be undated, Epstein turned 50 in 2003, five years before he pled guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor and served an 18-month sentence in a minimum-security facility. In July 2019, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors and was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan a month later.
This image of zebras having sex, apparently provided by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, was among the documents released by Congress.
A photograph of Epstein holding a check apparently signed by Trump
A note apparently from businessman Joel Pashcow