WASHINGTON — Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday the White House would be open to having a handwriting expert review whether the signature on a picture of a birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein released by House Democrats appears to belong to President Donald Trump, as she continued the administration’s insistence that the now-commander in chief never wrote such a note.
”Sure, we would support that,” Leavitt said when asked at Tuesday’s press briefing whether the White House would back bringing in such an expert.
Leavitt went on to forcefully maintain that “the president did not write this letter.”
”He did not sign this letter, and that’s why the president’s external legal team is aggressively pursuing litigation against The Wall Street Journal,” she continued.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, which has been tasked with investigating the handling of the now-deceased convicted sex offender’s case, released an image Monday of a message to Epstein bearing a sexually explicit drawing and Trump’s name along with a signature that was supposedly included in a 2003 birthday album for the onetime wealthy financier. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the existence of such a letter this summer, prompting Trump to fiercely deny ever leaving such a note and launch a $10 billion lawsuit against the media outlet as a result.
Democrats argued the image proved the president was lying.
”Donald Trump repeatedly denied the existence of his note to Epstein,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote in a post on X. “Now that we have it, we know he lied. Enough delay. Release the full files NOW.”
The entire House Oversight Committee released a copy Monday of the full album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday, which it obtained after issuing a subpoena to the Epstein estate as part of its investigation. The album released also showed messages purportedly from other well-known figures, including former President Bill Clinton.
The book also contained a photo of Epstein holding up a novelty check bearing Trump’s name.
The committee has also obtained and publicly posted records from the Justice Department on the sex-trafficking case against Epstein after issuing a subpoena to the department last month. More are expected to be released in weeks ahead.
But it comes as some on Capitol Hill and in conservative circles have been pushing for more transparency, including the release of all government files surrounding the Epstein case. The saga, which has engulfed lawmakers for months, was sparked by a memo released by the Justice Department this summer that revealed it did not plan to make public any more documents related to Epstein’s investigation. That was despite previous suggestions from officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, that there was more to come.
The memo also concluded there was no evidence Epstein maintained a “client list” of the famous and wealthy who supposedly participated in child abuse. It also confirmed he died by suicide, which hit at the heart of long-standing theories pushed by some on the right.
Trump, who has said his falling out with Epstein that took place years ago revolved around a dispute over workers at his Mar-a-Lago club, has repeatedly sought to dismiss the current saga over the files as a “Democratic hoax,” which Leavitt reiterated Tuesday.
”The hoax is the Democrats pretending to care about victims of crime when they do not care about victims of crime, when they have done nothing to solve crime, when they have done nothing to lock up child pedophiles,” Leavitt said.
She went on to assert that the story is being “perpetuated by opportunistic Democrats like Ro Khanna and the others who you saw in that press conference outside of Capitol Hill.”
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky have teamed up on a so-far unsuccessful effort to try to force a vote on releasing all of the government’s records on the Epstein case. The pair held a high-profile news onference in front of the Capitol last week that featured victims of Epstein.
Rep. Ted Lieu of California, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, urged Republicans to sign onto Khanna and Massie’s effort, known as a discharge petition, in the aftermath of the release of the image.
“If we can get a handful of Republicans to sign it, we can get this into a bill and compel it off the House floor to get the Epstein files,” he said. “And if Republicans don’t want to engage in a coverup of pedophilia and this pedophilia ring, they should go sign this discharge petition.”
Lieu added that Democrats “are all on board.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the release of the image of the message, saying, “I’m told that it’s fake.”