BIRTHDAY BOY

The assassination of Charlie Kirk has sucked a lot of the Epstein oxygen out of the room. Members of a House committee had journeyed to New York to see the infamous Birthday Book in person, as well, perhaps, as other documents held by the Epstein estate. I've heard no report on that excursion, thanks to the Kirk shooting.

Donald Trump is calling the Epstein matter a "dead issue," says he has nothing more to say about it. His last words: That's not my signature and the text of the letter is not how I speak.

(And to close the subject forever: Eric Trump says his dad never doodles women's bodies.)

Okay, a few comments:

If that's not Trump's signature it is one hell of an accurate forgery.

At first, the White House brought up samples of Trump's "first-name" signatures, demonstrating that none of them displayed the tail at the end.

That was disingenuous, at best. Samples of Trump's first-name signature from the era of the Birthday Book clearly show the tail.

As for the outline of the naked female, I have to wonder why it was drawn with stumps for arms instead of simply letting the arms trail off, like the bottom of the body. This may be a meal for psychiatrists to chew on.

Obviously, the signature and text could have existed before someone else added the drawing. What needs to happen is a forensic examination to determine if the outline was made with the same pen as the signature. Looks to me like it was.

Trump's other denial is bizarre.

It is certainly true that Trump does not talk like the letter's text when he addresses the press. When he freestyles an answer, he mostly digresses and jabbers off topic to revisit favorite hobby-horses of discourse. Ask about tariffs and you might end up listening to another diatribe against windmills and how they kill birds and drive whales crazy.

The weird thing is, Trump apparently thinks the dialogue depicted in the letter is a transcript of a conversation between him and Epstein. If that were true, Trump would be right: He doesn't speak like that. Nobody does.

The point of the letter seems to be to link Trump and Epstein in a world of secrets and enigmas. Other items revealed from the Birthday Book do a lot more than hint at Epstein's penchant for getting massages from scantily clad barely pubescent young females. Trump's letter fits in nicely, though in an arguably classy manner.

But seriously, what other secret could Trump be referring to? And if the pair are linked by secrets, is it the same one? That's creepy.

The obvious thing to do is to ask Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell about the Book. She was the one who put it together. She must have contacted various folks to invite them to contribute. She would probably know if Trump was a part of the project. She might well remember what his birthday letter looked like: text and drawing.

She might, but she doesn't.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche questioned the woman in Florida for nine hours on July 24th and 25th, about a week after the Wall Street Journal revealed the existence of the Birthday Book. And yes, the matter came up.

Maxwell said she didn't remember if Trump was in the book or not, but that she didn't ask him to be. She said Epstein was mostly in charge of calling contributors.

She "honestly" has no memory of Trump's letter or drawing, none whatsoever.

And that's the right answer. Thanks for playing the game.