Jeffrey Epstein's infamous birthday book is an "absolute fact," according to an attorney who represented more than 200 of the sex offender's victims.
Attorney Bradley Edwards told MSNBC's "The Last Word" the 2003 book, which was compiled on the occasion of the late financier's 50th birthday and revealed last week by the Wall Street Journal, that "multiple" victims of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell knew about the birthday book, reported The Daily Beast.
“I do know that they were involved in the assembly of the book, several of them,” Edwards said. “They were told by Ghislaine to assist in putting the book together. Others have seen the book post-birthday and after it was assembled. So the existence of the book is an absolute fact.”
The Journal reported that Trump had contributed to the book by sketching a nude woman and writing a bawdy letter to his then-friend. Edwards told host Lawrence O'Donnell that Epstein's estate executors would undoubtedly hand the book over if subpoenaed by Congress.
“They would turn the book over immediately,” Edwards said. “Nobody would have to guess. You would immediately have the answers. You could flip to the page. Is there a letter? Is there not a letter? It’s over. The victims then get to move on. But that’s not what’s happening. Real people are being hurt here. The truth matters, transparency actually matters. Get this over with and get it behind us.”
The president insists the letter is "fake" and has sued the newspaper for libel, but the attorney said he knows for a fact that the Journal's reporting was accurate.
“It should probably be set in the Smithsonian as an artifact at this point in time," Edwards said. “It’s going to go down in history, so that the world can see this book and they’ll know who were Jeffrey Epstein’s best friends at the time. What letters did his family write to him? What other pictures were in there? Redact victim names, release the book and move on.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who had been Trump's criminal defense lawyer before his return to the White House, will meet with Maxwell as soon as Thursday, which Edwards said was upsetting to victims — many of whom Epstein had abused when they were under 18. At least one was 14 at the time.
“The one thing that has really alarmed our clients is the information that now Ghislaine Maxwell is being visited in jail," Edwards said, "and that she is somehow being given some credibility and a platform on this particular topic. Does she have information that could potentially help? Yes. Will she be truthful about it? Who knows?“
Edwards said the victims he had represented were concerned that Trump and Maxwell had reached an understanding that would allow them to bury the matter.
“I have many clients who say, ‘President Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell were good friends back then, is he going to pardon her?’" Edwards said. "For him to do that, would be, he thought about you and he decided you do not matter. I don’t think that is on the table, maybe I’m putting too much trust in him.”
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