Jeffrey Epstein’s Birthday Album Included Letters From Bill Clinton, Leon Black
Former president, Wall Street billionaire were listed along with Donald Trump as ‘friends’ in the 2003 book’s table of contents, which named around five dozen contributors
By Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo
In the end, she was successful. The leather-bound album—assembled before Epstein was first arrested in 2006—included a page with a single paragraph in Clinton’s distinctive scrawl:
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.
A spokesman for Clinton declined to comment on the birthday message, which was reviewed by the Journal. He referred the Journal to a previous statement that the former president had cut off ties more than a decade before Epstein was arrested in 2019 and didn’t know about Epstein’s alleged crimes.
The former president was among around five dozen people, including Donald Trump, Wall Street billionaire Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang and media owner Mort Zuckerman, who ended up with letters in the 2003 book, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The letter bearing Trump’s signature, which had the outline of a naked woman, was one of the more memorable pages, according to the people involved in putting the album together. Trump has called the letter “a fake thing.”
The professionally bound birthday book had multiple volumes and included a table of contents that listed the contributions, organized into groups. While many letter writers weren’t famous, some categories had notable people.
Clinton and Trump were listed under the “Friends” group, along with about 20 other associates such as Black, Zuckerman, former Victoria’s Secret leader Leslie Wexner, attorney Alan Dershowitz, and the late Jean-Luc Brunel, who ran a modeling agency. Zuckerman didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A “Business” group included the late Alan “Ace” Greenberg and the late James “Jimmy” Cayne. Both men worked at Bear Stearns when Epstein was at the investment bank in the 1970s.
Other people were grouped under categories such as “Science,” “Brooklyn” and “Family.”
And Vera Wang?