White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been challenged to explain how the push for transparency over child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a hoax designed to smear the president.
As the firestorm over the Epstein files continued on Tuesday, Leavitt was grilled in the briefing room about the contents of a sexually suggestive book allegedly gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.
The book was filled with personal letters and memories from his famous friends, including a lewd drawing of a naked woman with Trump’s purported signature in place of pubic hair.
But the White House insists that the letter and signature are not the president’s, and has branded calls for complete transparency over the Epstein files as a Democratic “hoax.”
Asked to explain this theory on Tuesday, given the documents in question were decades old and produced by Epstein’s own estate through a Congressional subpoena, Leavitt ended up on the defensive.
“I did not say the documents are a hoax,” she initially replied.
“I said the entire narrative surrounding Jeffrey Epstein right now, that is absorbing many of the liberal cable channels on television, is a hoax perpetuated by opportunistic Democrats.”
“But what exactly is the hoax?” asked New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. “I’m just trying to understand what’s fake…”
“The hoax is the Democrats pretending to care about victims of crime when they do not care about victims of crime,” Leavitt snapped back.
“They are now using victims as political props to try to smear the president of the United States and drag on this bad story about him. It is a distraction. The Democrats view this story as nothing more than an attempt to distract from the accomplishments and achievements of this administration. That is what we mean when we call it a hoax.”
Haberman, however, pressed on, asking again what the “working theory” was behind the White House’s claim that the president never signed the letter, even though the signature on it looked very similar to his.
“The president has one of the most famous signatures in the world,” Leavitt answered. “The president did not write that letter, he did not sign those documents. He maintains that position.”
The exchange was emblematic of the ongoing frustration the president feels about the Epstein saga, which has resurfaced years after the disgraced financier died in Manhattan jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The issue has been dogging the president for months, ever since a Justice Department and FBI memo concluded in June that there was no evidence to suggest Epstein blackmailed powerful figures or kept a “client list,” as many conspiracy theories suggest.
But the administration’s initial attempts to shut down the matter sent MAGA world into a tailspin and prompted claims of a cover-up.
Trump, who came to office promising full transparency, has since sought to dismiss the matter, angered that it is taking attention away from his accomplishments.
But victims are outraged and appeared on Capitol Hill last week to demand transparency and accountability.
“There is no hoax,” Epstein survivor Haley Robson said during a press conference with Democrats and Republicans. “The abuse was real.”
The firestorm erupted again this week, when House Democrats released the contents of the 50th birthday book, forcing the administration to double down on its claim that the president had nothing to do with it.
However, observers noted the alleged letter shared similarities to other drawings and correspondence Trump has produced.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Leavitt said she would be willing to use a handwriting expert to prove that the signature wasn’t Trump’s.
“Sure, we would support that,” she said.
She dodged questions about whether the president would meet Epstein’s victims, but insisted Trump had done more for victims of crime than any other president.
Shortly after her briefing, a man held up a sign a yellow sign at the White House gates.
”Not A Hoax,” it said.
