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 Trump is reported to have signed a bawdy poem and drawing in honor of Mr. Epstein’s then 50th birthday.
The lawyer, Brad Edwards, made the comment in an interview on Wednesday night with the MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell. Mr. Edward also said he believes the estate would turn the book over to federal authorities if requested.
“I know the executors are in possession of this book,” Mr. Edwards said.
The birthday book, a compilation of messages from some of Mr. Epstein’s associates and friends at the time, was compiled in 2003 by Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend and associate, for Mr. Epstein’s 50th birthday, according to a report last week in The Wall Street Journal. One of the people who signed the book was Mr. Trump.
Lawyers for the two executors of Mr. Epstein’s estate did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Edwards did not immediately return a request for comment.
Mr. Trump has denied he ever signed the book or wrote any messages in it and has sued The Wall Street 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 will not be releasing any more information from its investigation of Mr. Epstein.
Mr. Trump was told by Attorney General Pam Bondi this spring that his name appeared in unreleased files from the investigation. Mr. Trump 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 Mr. Epstein.
Mr. Epstein killed himself in a federal jail in August 2019, a month after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.
Ms. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on charges of helping Mr. 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 Ms. Maxwell to see if she has information to provide about others who may have participated in the trafficking of teenage girls and young women.
Ms. Maxwell has maintained her innocence all along. She is the only other person charged by prosecutors in connection with Mr. Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking operation that led to the abuse of more than 200 teenage girls and young women.
The executors of Mr. Epstein’s estate are his longtime former personal lawyer and former personal accountant.
Matthew Goldstein is a Times reporter who covers Wall Street and white-collar crime and housing issues.
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