Epstein’s estate includes book said to have note from Trump, a lawyer says
A lawyer for hundreds of Jeffrey Epstein‘s victims said the disgraced financier’s estate has a copy of a birthday book in which President Donald Trump is reported to have signed a bawdy poem and drawing in honor of Epstein’s 50th birthday. The lawyer, Brad Edwards, made the comment in an interview Wednesday night with MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell. Edwards also said he believed the estate would turn the book over to federal authorities if requested. “I know the executors are in possession of this book,” Edwards said. The birthday book, a compilation of messages from some of Epstein’s associates and friends at the time, was compiled in 2003 by Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend and associate, for Epstein’s 50th birthday, according to a report last week in The Wall Street Journal. In a statement, the Epstein estate said it would comply with all lawful processes. Edwards did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has denied writing the message and has sued the Journal for defamation. The reported existence of the message has helped to fuel the firestorm in Washington over the Justice Department’s decision to announce that it would not be releasing any more information from its investigation of Epstein. Trump was told by Attorney General Pam Bondi this past spring that his name appeared in unreleased files from the investigation. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to the case, and the files are likely to contain references to many people who came in contact with Epstein. Epstein killed himself in a federal jail in August 2019, a month after being arrested on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on charges of helping Epstein engage in the sex trafficking of teenage girls and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. The Justice Department has said it plans to meet with Maxwell to see if she has information to provide about others who may have participated in the trafficking of teenage girls and young women. Maxwell has maintained her innocence. She is the only other person charged by prosecutors in connection with Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking operation that led to the abuse of more than 200 teenage girls and young women. The executors of Epstein’s estate are his longtime former personal lawyer and former personal accountant.
