Trump threatens to sue WSJ for story alleging racy letter to Epstein
The latest: Trump said in a Thursday night Truth Social post that he personally warned the WSJ and owner Rupert Murdoch "that the supposed letter" was "a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued. Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so."
Trump said both he and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker that the letter at the center of the article was fake, but she "didn't want to hear that" and "instead, they are going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway."
Leavitt said on X the "WSJ refused to show us the letter and conceded they don't even have it in their possession when we asked them to verify the alleged document they're basing their ENTIRE fake story on."
Driving the news: The letter, which the WSJ reports that it reviewed, was in a leather-bound album that Ghislaine Maxwell put together in 2003 for Epstein's birthday, according to the story.
The WSJ reported that Department of Justice officials reviewed pages from the album years ago, but that it wasn't clear if the Trump DOJ looked at the documents for its report that concluded there's no evidence to suggest Epstein was killed or kept a " client list."
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in Florida after being found guilty of sex trafficking and other charges in 2021.
Zoom in: The letter bearing Trump's name allegedly features a "bawdy" drawing of a naked woman, but the president told the Wall Street Journal he had nothing to do with the gift.
"This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story," he told the outlet.
The WSJ didn't immediately post an image of the letter or drawing.
Representatives for the WSJ declined to comment further on the report.
Meanwhile, the president announced on Thursday night that he has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all relevant grand jury testimony in the Epstein case, subject to court approval.
Zoom out: Trump has faced pressure from MAGA circles since the conclusion of his administration's review of the Epstein case.
What they're saying: Many top MAGA influencers, even ones critical of Trump's handling of the Epstein matter, bashed the Journal story.
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