General Discussion

Eight weeks later, the story took a rather dramatic turn. My MSNBC colleague Erum Salam reported on the new batch of material from the Epstein estate released by Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee — including the contents of the so-called “birthday book.” From the report:

A copy of the book submitted to Congress (which was not reviewed by MSNBC) included a typed message, inside the outline of a woman’s torso, that read, in part, ‘A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.’ At the bottom of the message is a signature that appears to be Donald Trump’s.

The image looks like the one the Journal described in July.

BREAKING: House Oversight Committee Dems posted this photo of what appears to be Trump's birthday note to Epstein.

Trump previously denied the note and drawing's existence. MSNBC has not independently verified the drawing. The WH has denied the signature belongs to the president.

— MSNBC (@msnbc.com) 2025-09-08T20:02:54.216Z

......White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that it’s “very clear” that Trump didn’t draw the figure or sign the letter. Other White House officials pushed the same line, and true to form, several congressional Republicans soon followed, echoing the new party line.

At face value, the pushback was — and is — difficult to take seriously. The signature on the letter resembles other documents from that era that Trump signed.

ThAt’a nOt TrUmP’s SiGnAtUrE www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-09-08T21:38:29.142Z

For that matter, it’s difficult to imagine how the document in question could’ve been fabricated in the first place. As CNN’s Aaron Blake summarized, “The key fact here is that this comes from Epstein’s estate. In other words, for this letter to have been fake, someone would have had to plant it in Epstein’s possessions a long time ago, somehow.”.......

There’s a quote that’s often attributed to political theorist Hannah Arendt: “This constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore.” As it happens, Arendt didn’t actually say this (at least not exactly), but the quote resonates because of its salience:

Trump obviously tries to get people to believe lies all the time, but nearly as often, the president and his allies try to get people to give up on the idea that facts exist. With too many Americans, these tactics are effective, which helps explain why they’ve become so common.