These are the names that were reportedly in Epstein's birthday book
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Members of a protest group called "Hot Mess" hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein in front of the Federal courthouse on July 8, 2019, in New York City. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
The Trump administration is pushing back on more media reports on his inclusion in a leather-bound album celebrating disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday.
The big picture: President Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch, challenging a report about a "bawdy" birthday letter bearing Trump's name in the book that Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly collated in 2003. Now, the WSJ has published a report naming other public figures it says were in the book.
- Separately, the NYT reported on a signed message — "To Jeff — You are the greatest!" signed "Donald" and dated "Oct '97"— inscribed in Epstein's copy of the book "Trump: The Art of the Comeback."
For the record: Steven Cheung, a White House spokesperson, told the NYT, "This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media."
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the WSJ, "The Wall Street Journal is writing yet another defamatory story about the President of the United States about an alleged letter they don't even have because the President never wrote it."
Driving the news: The WSJ's latest report focuses on other figures it alleges contributed to the birthday book that a lawyer representing some of Epstein's victims told MSNBC was part of his estate.
New WSJ birthday book allegations
A note in Epstein's 2003 birthday book — which the WSJ reports was written in former President Clinton's "distinctive scrawl" — could allegedly be seen in this passage: "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, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends."
- The former president's spokesperson Angel Ureña referred Axios to a statement he gave a month before Epstein was found dead in his New York cell after being charged in 2019 with the sex trafficking of minors. The statement said Clinton had not spoken with the disgraced financier "in well over a decade."
Trump's and Clinton's names allegedly appeared in the "friends" category of the book, along with other notable names, while others appeared in categories such as "Science," "Brooklyn" and "Family."
Wall Street billionaire Leon Black's name also appears in the "friends" section with a handwritten poem that was signed off with "Love and kisses," according to the documents reviewed by the WSJ, noting a representative for the Apollo Global Management co-founder declined to comment.
- The poem allegedly "included the acronym "V.F.P.C." with an asterisk that said it stood for "Vanity Fair Poster Child," a reference to a magazine profile of Epstein that was in the works."
- Black's spokesperson did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Nathan Myhrvold, a billionaire and former Microsoft executive, is also accused of submitting a letter that included "photos of a monkey screaming, lions and zebras mating, and a zebra with its penis visible."
- The letter that ended with a typed "Nathan" wrote that he was submitting photos from a recent trip to Africa as they "seemed more appropriate than anything I could put in words," said the letter, according to the WSJ.
- A spokesperson for Myhrvold told the outlet he doesn't remember being involved in such a letter and that as a wildlife photographer, he "regularly shares photos of and writes about animal behavior." He only knew Epstein due to TED conferences and donations to scientific research, the spokesperson added.
- When asked if Myhrvold was aware of Epstein's criminal conduct when he sent the letter, a spokesperson for Myhrvold told Axios, "absolutely not."
Fashion designer Vera Wang "joked about putting Epstein on 'The Bachelor' and suggested they go on a shopping trip," the WSJ alleges. Representatives for Wang did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment Friday.
Former Blair government minister Peter Mandelson, now the U.K. ambassador to the U.S., allegedly called Epstein "my best pal" in his letter.
- Mandelson could not immediately be reached for comment, but he has previously said he regrets ever meeting Epstein, being introduced to him by Maxwell, a daughter of the late media baron Robert Maxwell, and he regrets "even more the hurt he caused to many young women."
Zoom in: Also allegedly on the "friends" list were then-New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman, and attorney Alan Dershowitz, who previously represented Epstein.
- When asked for comment on a "mock-up of a 'Vanity Unfair' magazine cover with mock headlines" linked to him, Dershowitz told the WSJ, "It's been a long time and I don't recall the content of what I may have written."
- Asked about how well he knew Epstein, Dershowitz told Axios, "I was his lawyer and academic colleague at his seminars."
Meanwhile, the NYT reports it reviewed a contributor list for the birthday album and found the names of businessman Alan Greenberg and physicist Murray Gell-Mann, both of whom have since died. The name of then-Victoria's Secret owner Leslie Wexner was also reportedly in the book, which Epstein's brother Mark Epstein told the Journal that he remembers Maxwell collating.
- Zuckerman and Wexner did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.
