The White House has dismissed the authenticity of a note said to have been written by President Donald Trump for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book.
Officials stated the president neither drew nor signed the entry, which surfaced this week among documents released by the US House Oversight Committee.
The scrapbook, compiled in 2003 by Epstein’s then-partner Ghislaine Maxwell, includes contributions from several high-profile figures.
One alleged note from Trump appears as a dialogue with Epstein, ending with a birthday wish signed in his name.
Democratic lawmakers published the page on social media ahead of its official release, reigniting political debate.
White House staff said the handwriting and signature do not match Trump’s.
The president previously dismissed reports of the note as false and is pursuing a $10bn lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its parent company over earlier coverage.
Other entries in the book include a message from former UK minister Peter Mandelson, who later expressed regret over meeting Epstein, and one attributed to Bill Clinton, who has acknowledged knowing Epstein but denied knowledge of his crimes.
Prince Andrew is also briefly mentioned through an unnamed contributor’s note.
Democrats on the Oversight Committee accused Trump of misleading the public about the document’s existence, while Republican chairman James Comer said Democrats were politicizing selective disclosures.
Alongside the book, lawmakers released Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement and decades of contacts from his address book.
Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, was a convicted sex offender with links to global elites.
His victims continue to call for the release of all records tied to his network. Trump has said he ended his friendship with Epstein in the early 2000s after a personal dispute.