Trump's 'lewd birthday message' allegedly sent to Epstein released by Democrats
Democrats in the US have released a sexually suggestive birthday note allegedly sent by Donald Trump to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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The letter, released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on social media on Monday, bears Trump's name and what appears to be his signature includes text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a curvaceous woman.
The president has vehemently denied his ownership of the letter and filed a $10 billion (£7.3 billion) lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for earlier reporting on his link to it.
"As I have said all along, it's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement posted on X.
"President Trump's legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation."
Read more: ‘Don’t let this fool you’: Democrats allege 'cover-up' as batch of Jeffrey Epstein files released
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted various pictures on X of Mr Trump's signature over the years and wrote "it's not his signature".
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee received a copy of the birthday album on Monday as part of a batch of documents from Epstein's estate.
The letter reads: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Trump said The Wall Street Journal's reporting on the letter was "false, malicious and defamatory."
"These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures," Trump said.
The letter released by the committee looks exactly as described by The Wall Street Journal in its report.
The release of the drawing comes as the president has for months faced increasing pressure to force more disclosure in the case of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them, while Maxwell was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by him.
It also once again puts a spotlight on Trump's former friendship with Epstein, which the president has said ended two decades ago after a falling-out.
Trump said recently that he cut ties with Epstein because he "stole" young women - including Virginia Giuffre, who was among Epstein's most well-known sex trafficking accusers - who worked for the spa at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump had suggested during the presidential campaign that he would seek to open the government's files into Epstein, but much of what the government has released so far had already been out there.
Recent calls for the release of the records came from Republicans, including vice president JD Vance, before he was sworn into the country's number two position.
The Justice Department in August began turning over records from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation to the House Oversight Committee.
The committee subpoenaed the Epstein estate for documents last month.
In addition to the birthday book, legislators requested Epstein's last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.