US President Donald Trump is reportedly not the only one to have sent a birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a new report, former US President Bill Clinton also wrote a letter to Epstein, who was a convicted sex offender, on his birthday.
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The letter was said to be part of a book containing messages presented to Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003.
Notably, Epstein, who died in 2019, has become the centre of a controversy after the US Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a memo earlier this month. It claimed that no list existed of high-profile individuals who may have been involved in Epstein’s crimes.
What exactly did Clinton say in his message to Epstein? And what more has the report disclosed about the Epstein files?
Let’s find out:
Did Trump and Clinton send birthday letters to Epstein?
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump had given Jeffrey Epstein a birthday note, which allegedly included a drawing of a naked woman.
The letter was reportedly part of a leather-bound birthday album put together by Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell for his 50th birthday in 2003.
It is worth noting that Trump has denied writing the letter. He is now suing the newspaper, its parent company, and owner Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion.
Soon after the article’s release, Trump responded on his social media platform, Truth Social, stating, “The supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE.”
Impact Shorts
View AllNow, the WSJ has made another claim. It reported that Bill Clinton also wrote a note to Epstein, which was included in the same birthday collection.
According to documents reviewed by the paper, Clinton was one of the individuals whose letters were featured in the 2003 album. Others included Trump, Wall Street investor Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang, and media executive Mort Zuckerman.
The birthday book was professionally produced in several volumes and came with a table of contents that grouped contributors. While most letter writers were not public figures, some well-known names were included.
Clinton and Trump were listed in the ‘Friends’ category, along with about 20 others, such as Black, Zuckerman, former Victoria’s Secret boss Leslie Wexner, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and the late modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
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Bill Clinton’s ‘letter’ to Epstein: What does it say?
Some of the messages in Epstein’s 50th birthday album were light-hearted wishes, while others contained crude sex jokes, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The most high-profile name in the book was Bill Clinton, who had left office in 2001.
As per the report, Clinton’s message to Epstein read:
“It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”
A spokesperson for Clinton declined to speak to the paper, instead pointing to a previous statement in which the former president said he had ended his association with Epstein more than ten years before Epstein’s arrest and had no knowledge of his crimes.
Clinton was pictured with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at a White House function in 1993 and was known to have socialised with him during the early 2000s.
According to people familiar with Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, he kept a painting showing Clinton in a blue dress and red heels, the report said.
In 2019, Clinton’s office confirmed that the former president had taken four flights on Epstein’s private jet and had visited the Manhattan residence once, each time accompanied by Secret Service agents and linked to the work of the Clinton Foundation.
Trump, who had also interacted with Epstein during the 1990s and early 2000s, said in 2019 that he had not spoken to Epstein in about 15 years.
Several digital versions of the birthday album now exist. It remains part of Epstein’s estate.
The row over Epstein files
Epstein, the financier with connections to several high-profile politicians and influential figures, was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York.
He died in jail while waiting for trial. Though the official cause was listed as suicide, the circumstances of his death have led to massive speculation and conspiracy theories.
A memo issued last week by the Justice Department stated that no further documents linked to the case would be made public. The move drew sharp criticism from a section of Trump’s supporters, many of whom had expected full disclosure under the current administration.
Reacting to the backlash, Trump lashed out, accusing his critics of chasing a false narrative. He also called on Republicans to stop pursuing the matter.
Posting on Truth Social on Wednesday, he wrote: “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.”