Editor’s note: The Department of Justice said in a post on X on Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 3:27 p.m., that a letter released with the Epstein files purporting to be from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is “FAKE.” This article has been updated to reflect the statement.
The Department of Justice said a purported 2019 letter signed “J. Epstein” and addressed to Larry Nassar — which appeared to suggest then-President Donald Trump loved “young, nubile girls” — is not authentic.
The handwritten note was postmarked Aug. 13, 2019, three days after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead by suicide in his jail cell. Addressed to “L.N.,” the note appeared to reference an intention to die by suicide.
In an X post on Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 3:27 p.m., the DOJ wrote: “The FBI has confirmed this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is FAKE. The fake letter was received by the jail, and flagged for the FBI at the time. The FBI made this conclusion based on the following facts:
“-The writing does not appear to match Jeffrey Epstein’s.
“-The letter was postmarked three days after Epstein’s death out of Northern Virginia, when he was jailed in New York.
“-The return address did not list the jail where Epstein was held and did not include his inmate number, which is required for outgoing mail.
“This fake letter serves as a reminder that just because a document is released by the Department of Justice does not make the allegations or claims within the document factual. Nevertheless, the DOJ will continue to release all material required by law.”
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The note — released Tuesday in a batch of files tied to Epstein’s case — reads: “As you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route’ home.”
It continues: “Good luck! We share one thing … our love & caring for young ladies at the hope they’d reach their full potential.”
By the time of Epstein’s death during Trump’s first term, Nassar had already been sentenced to decades in prison following his conviction for criminal ***** conduct. It remains unclear whether the two had any connection.
Although Trump is not named directly in the letter, the note appears to refer to him and includes the line: “Our president shares our love of young, nubile girls.” It also reads: “When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system. Life is unfair. Yours, J. Epstein.”
Earlier in the day, the White House pointed to an X post from the Justice Department stating that some newly released Epstein materials “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump.”
“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false,” the post reads. “And if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
After the initial publication of the report about the letter, the DOJ said it was reviewing the document’s authenticity, noting the Virginia postmark (rather than New York) and issues with the return address and missing inmate number. Later, the DOJ said the FBI had confirmed the letter was fake.
The Justice Department has released thousands of files related to the late financier and convicted *** offender since Dec. 19, as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed by Congress and signed by Trump, though some documents have been heavily redacted.
Some photos show Epstein with individuals who appear to be children. Ghislaine Maxwell — convicted in 2021 of *** trafficking for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein — appears in several images.
Other photos include high-profile figures such as former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Michael Jackson and Kevin Spacey, none of whom are accused of criminal wrongdoing. The images were released without context, and several faces are redacted.
Trump is also pictured with Epstein in one of more than a dozen photos that were briefly removed from the official website and later restored after backlash.
The information contained in the files is separate from the thousands of documents provided to the House Oversight Committee by Epstein’s estate.
Trump’s name appears multiple times in the emails, including in instances where Epstein questioned the president’s mental state and implied he “knew about the girls.”
