MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell on Monday broke down why he believes the birthday note written to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 was from President Donald Trump, despite his administration’s denials.
“The Donald-signed letter to Jeffrey Epstein is no longer a ‘wonderful secret,’” he said.
The 2003 note for Epstein’s 50th birthday was typed inside the hand-drawn silhouette of a naked woman, with Trump’s signature forming her pubic hair. It said “enigmas never age” and included the sentiment “may every day be another wonderful secret.”
“The signature on the birthday note does look like Donald Trump’s signature,” O’Donnell said Monday. “Donald Trump has not yet denied that it is his signature, but it became the official White House position today that that is not Donald Trump’s signature.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Monday that Trump “did not draw this picture” and said the image “PROVES” the letter is “false.”
In July, when The Wall Street Journal first reported on the note, Vice President JD Vance demanded to see the image referenced in the “bullshit” article. On Monday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shared it on social media — after successfully subpoenaing the Epstein estate for the “birthday book” that contained it.
“When the letter was produced, the vice president’s response in writing was, ‘No one is falling for this BS,’” O’Donnell said Monday. “Well, OK, Mr. Vice President, but you could’ve at least acknowledged that your eager question, ‘Where is the letter?’ has been answered.”
The pundit then squarely addressed Leavitt, who claimed Trump “did not sign” the “FAKE” letter, by noting that the Journal has shared other examples of his signature — which look remarkably similar — and confirmed Trump has used the word “enigma” before.
“No Trump White House press secretary has ever gotten through a day without lying,” said O’Donnell.
He went on to reveal that he has a handwriting sample of Trump’s.
“In the second week of January in 2016, I got my one and only note from Donald Trump,” said O’Donnell. “It was a handwritten note and he signed it ‘Best wishes, Donald.’ Just the first name — just like the birthday letter. It was a very friendly note that I received from Donald.”
He explained that Trump at the time sent him a $10,000 check from the Donald J. Trump Foundation for the anchor to give to a charity, which surprised O’Donnell since Trump had insulted him on social media for years prior. He then showed both the 2003 and 2016 signatures on screen — to rather telling results.
“All of the grand strokes are exactly the same,” said O’Donnell. “Those two signatures are more alike than any two exemplars of my signature, which varies day to day and signature to signature. But we will leave it to you, the handwriting experts in the audience, to make tonight’s judgment about just how similar those strikingly similar signatures appear to be.”
Watch O’Donnell’s full monologue below: