JD Vance under fire as released Trump birthday letter to Epstein contradicts his denials

WASHINGTON, DC: Vice President JD Vance is under fire after a controversial letter linking Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein resurfaced this week, undermining his earlier defense of the president.

The House Oversight Committee on Monday, September 8, received a copy of a 2003 birthday message that Trump allegedly sent to Epstein.

JD Vance's denial collides with resurfaced evidence

The illustrated letter, signed “Donald,” was written inside the outline of a woman’s silhouette and included bawdy, imagined dialogue between Trump and Epstein.

When The Wall Street Journal reported on the letter in July, Vance forcefully rejected the story, calling it “complete and utter bulls**t.” On X, the vice president wrote, “Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bulls**t. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it.”

He demanded to see the alleged document, insisting, “Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?”

Donald Trump $10 billion lawsuit and White House pushback

Trump has repeatedly denied writing the letter and has launched a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and its parent company, News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The lawsuit alleges defamation and claims Trump explicitly warned Murdoch not to publish the report — a statement that appeared to contradict Vance’s suggestion that the paper never showed the letter to anyone in the administration. In the filing, Trump asserted that he personally cautioned Murdoch against publishing the piece, which conflicted with Vance’s claim that the newspaper “never showed it to us.”

On Monday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt once more rejected claims that Trump was behind the letter, stating his legal team remained committed to “aggressively pursue litigation.”

In July, as additional claims surfaced suggesting both the letter and the so-called birthday book were real, Vance escalated his criticism of The Wall Street Journal.

“I have no idea if the book exists — the WSJ refuses to show it. I don’t know if this supposed letter is real — they won’t share that either. What’s ridiculous is the notion that Donald Trump was penning poems to Epstein. Just as ridiculous is that a major American newspaper would go after the sitting president without producing the evidence they claim to have,” Vance wrote in an extended X post on July 24.

“We all know what’s going to happen. They’re going to dribble little details out for days or weeks in an effort to assassinate the president’s character,” he continued. “They won’t show us this book or allow us to refute it until they’ve wrung every bit of fake news out of the story. And everyone will just move on from the fact that the WSJ is acting like a Democrat SuperPAC. It’s disgraceful, and it’s why the president sued.”

Democrats seize on JD Vance contradictions

The release of the letter quickly reignited political sparring. California Gov Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic, mocked Vance online, writing, “This aged nicely.”

The Democratic Party’s official X account posted the letter itself, tagging Vance with the caption, “Found the letter for you, @JDVance.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif), who serves on the House Oversight Committee, urged Vance to walk back his earlier attacks on the press.

“Vice President Vance should be asked to retract what he said, defaming the Wall Street Journal reporter,” Khanna told CNN. “He said it was fake. Now we have the letter.”