In this episode, the hosts are joined by Susan Crabtree, National Political Correspondent for RealClearPolitics, who takes a critical look at The Wall Street Journal’s recent report alleging that former President Donald Trump once sent Jeffrey Epstein a birthday letter — a claim based on a supposed contribution to a "birthday book" shared among Epstein’s acquaintances. While acknowledging the public’s right to know more about Epstein’s network and praising Trump’s call for greater transparency through document releases, Crabtree expresses serious skepticism over the Journal’s reporting standards and motives.
At the heart of the issue is a glaring omission: there is no physical copy of the alleged letter, no image published, and no verified forensic analysis to support the claim. The reporters behind the piece admit they do not possess the letter themselves, raising red flags about the credibility and timing of the story. Crabtree demands accountability and evidence, urging journalists and media outlets to follow the foundational principle of investigative reporting: “show, don’t tell.”
The episode also delves into potential political conflicts of interest. One of the reporters, Joe Palazzolo, previously worked for Main Justice, a publication run by Mary Jacoby — who is married to Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the discredited Steele dossier. That dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign and DNC, was later used to justify surveillance on the Trump campaign. Crabtree argues that these ties deserve scrutiny and may point to a pattern of politically motivated reporting under the guise of journalism.
With so many past stories about Trump later proven false, Crabtree questions how a major outlet like the Wall Street Journal could publish such a salacious claim without rock-solid proof. She urges editors and reporters to consider the legal and ethical implications of reporting based on anonymous sources and unverifiable documents. Trump has denied the existence of the letter and has threatened legal action — a move Crabtree believes he should pursue if the story is indeed false.
Ultimately, the episode is a strong call for journalistic integrity, transparency, and a healthy skepticism of any story — especially one tied to figures and narratives that have been part of past political smear campaigns.
Transcript
**Susan Crabtree: **So anyway, that being said, this issue of this birthday letter, I look at everything through a very skeptical lens. Now, am I supportive of more information about Epstein coming out?
Absolutely, I am. I want to preface my comments with that. I am on the record saying that the Justice Department and the FBI need to show, not tell. They need to provide more information. They can't just say, nothing to see here, folks. Trust us.
So I am for what Donald Trump started to announce last night or started to pursue last night as saying, we're going to release some of these documents, these court documents.
**Sam Stone: **If you didn't have a woman in jail for these crimes, maybe the lack of evidence that's been presented would make more sense, but you do.
**Michelle Ugenti-Rita: **Yeah, and he was in jail. Epstein was convicted and in jail. I mean, people have a right to know and want to make their own judgment call and make up their mind and not be, to your point, not be told what to think, but shown the evidence or lack thereof and come to their own conclusion.
**Susan Crabtree: **That's exactly right. So that's my position. Now, that being said, I'm skeptical about anything that comes out that that talks about a birthday letter involving from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein when the reporters don't have a copy of the letter.
And they've admitted they don't.
**Michelle Ugenti-Rita: **Yes.
**Sam Stone: **Yeah.
**Michelle Ugenti-Rita: **Where's the letter? They said that they saw it.
**Susan Crabtree:**Yeah. It's absolutely, to me, you have to have the letter and maybe they know something I don't because people question my motives and my sources all the time. And it's our right to question it. That's, basic element of our democracy. So I'm questioning them and I'm questioning their ties.
So why, so this letter is, where is it? Did you get forensic experts and handwriting experts to verify that I would need like 10, say 10 good leading national handwriting experts to verify if this is really Donald Trump's writing, if this is really his artistry that we've been told about that's so tawdry about a
woman's body that the letter he gave Epstein was, it was outlined by a woman's body and even worse, where his signature was placed, allegedly, according to the Wall Street Journal. So I just started looking. They were congratulating themselves on X.com yesterday. Another colleague was saying she's so proud of her, you know, these intrepid journalists.
And then they showed the bio of one of them, Joe Palazzazzo. And I said, wait, wait a second. He worked at Maine Justice. Maine Justice was a very minor publication, but it was owned by Mary Jacoby and run by Mary Jacoby. Mary Jacoby is married to Glenn Simpson. Glenn Simpson ran Fusion GBS,
produced a Steele dossier full of errors and just slander, absolute libel and slander against Donald Trump. It was used to then get the warrant to surveil the Trump campaign.
**Sam Stone: **Well, I mean, yeah, they led to multiple impeachments. I mean, they broke. If they didn't break the law in a million ways with what they were doing with that, they broke the compact with America that we've always had with our officials and our agencies. Right. I mean, that's that was egregious.
And then you have the same guy doing this. There's no proof.
**Michelle Ugenti-Rita: **But don't you think they would have anticipated that response by not releasing the letter in their article or showing a photo of it that they were going to have to answer to people questioning their sources or asking them to produce the birthday card? So that's got to have crossed their mind. What are they thinking now?
They can just not follow up on it or let it go or their article should be sufficient enough? What do you think they do next?
**Susan Crabtree: **I think the editor, this is the problem. We didn't see very much. They selectively chose. This is a birthday book that many people contributed to. So I get that.
I mean, that's huge needs value right now. I'm not taking issue with reporting that there was this birthday book.
**Sam Stone: **So there's this birthday book, that's a story, but where is it? And whether Trump put something in it, that would be a story, but where is it?
**Susan Crabtree: **Yeah, we need to see the birth, again, show not tell, right? I mean, we go back to what my editors, basic writing techniques, editors always tell you, show not tell, I mean, so... So basically, yeah, I want to know. And the ties, this main justice, the problem with this Mary Jacoby, Glenn Simpson connection is
Because Mary Jacoby, her father, has ties to Hillary Clinton. She was a big investment advisor in Arkansas, and one of his clients was the Rose Law Firm. And we know now that Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC funded the dossier through a Perkins Coie law firm, and they covered it all up.
And that's why I say scrutinize the ties here. Absolutely. I mean, that's why I'm saying, you know, I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm saying be skeptical. And I certainly think it's news if it's correct. But where's the forensic evidence? Where is the letter?
**Michelle Ugenti-Rita: **Wait, where's the letter?
**Sam Stone: **Yeah, where is this? And we have just a minute left. I want to kind of touch on one last thing for this topic. You've been in this business a long time. You've been a journalist for a long time. Given everything that's come out about Trump that has been falsified,
that has been printed as fact over the last decade basically now, if you're a Wall Street Journal editor, why aren't you saying, boy, I better have the copy of that in my hand before you print this thing?
Listen to the full episode of Breaking Battlegrounds anywhere you stream your podcasts!