A recently unearthed birthday letter from Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Epstein, penned with unsettling praise for the disgraced financier, has reignited scrutiny over the connections between powerful figures and a convicted predator.
According to Daily Mail, the note, part of a 2003 birthday compilation organized by Ghislaine Maxwell, lauds Epstein’s “childlike curiosity” and drive to make a difference. Released alongside a disturbing cartoon depiction of Epstein and other materials by the House Oversight Committee on Monday, it paints a grim picture of misplaced admiration.
The letter, scrawled in Clinton’s own hand, offers warm birthday wishes for a man later revealed as a monster. “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,” Clinton wrote, a sentiment that now reads as chillingly naive at best, complicit at worst.
Alongside Clinton’s message, a crude cartoon from an unknown artist surfaced, showing Epstein in 1983 luring young girls with balloons and candy. By 2003, the other half of the drawing depicts him being massaged by topless girls near his infamous jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express.”
The caption, “What a great country!” drips with a sick irony that no one could miss today. This imagery, sent just a year before investigations into Epstein’s sex crimes began, underlines how his depravity was an open secret to some.
These items were part of a birthday album Maxwell, now serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s crimes, assembled for his 50th celebration. The book, reportedly filled with messages from prominent names, raises hard questions about who knew what and when.
A parallel letter, allegedly signed by Donald Trump, was released on the same day, wishing Epstein a “Happy Birthday” and hinting at “another wonderful secret.” Trump has called the message fake, filing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for reporting it.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the allegations as “fake news” and part of a “Democrat Epstein Hoax,” insisting Trump neither wrote nor signed the note. The pushback suggests a desperate attempt to distance from a toxic association, though photos of Trump with Epstein at Mar-a-Lago linger in public memory.
Another image from the birthday book shows a Mar-a-Lago member joking with Epstein about “selling” a woman to Trump for $22,500, with a handwritten note calling her “fully depreciated.” The woman, unnamed and unaware of the jest, had her lawyer label it a “disgusting and deeply disturbing hoax,” a fair reaction to such crass objectification.
Both Clinton and Trump have faced renewed heat over these revelations, with Clinton maintaining he knew nothing of Epstein’s crimes at the time. The former president’s team has been contacted for comment, but the silence so far speaks volumes about the discomfort of revisiting this chapter.
Trump, meanwhile, has decried the focus on Epstein files as a partisan distraction, arguing Democrats sat on documents during prior administrations. His Truth Social post questioning their sudden “love and heartfelt concern for his victims” cuts to a valid skepticism about political timing, though it sidesteps his own past proximity to Epstein.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the Oversight Committee’s Democratic ranking member, fired back, accusing Trump of “lying” about the birthday note’s existence. His demand to “release the full files now” echoes a bipartisan frustration with the slow drip of information from Epstein’s estate, which handed over 33,000 pages last month, though only a fraction contained new details.
The Epstein estate’s lawyers, in a letter to the committee, claimed no knowledge of a client list tied to sex trafficking, while suggesting the infamous “Black Book” of contacts likely rests with the FBI. This opacity fuels suspicion of a broader cover-up, leaving victims and the public with more questions than answers.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s document release, reviewed by the committee chaired by Rep. James Comer, included flight logs of Epstein’s private jet from 2000 to 2014. Yet, with so much still redacted or missing, the full scope of who enabled Epstein’s horrors remains frustratingly out of reach.
These birthday book revelations, from Clinton’s ill-judged praise to Trump’s disputed note, are a stark reminder of how power often blinds itself to evil in plain sight. Until every file is opened, the specter of Epstein will haunt not just his victims, but a society still grappling with accountability at the highest levels.
