Donald Trump sent notorious sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein a bawdy birthday letter with a drawing of a naked woman, an acknowledgement that the two "have certain things in common," and a wish for "every day [to] be another wonderful secret," the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday evening, citing "documents" that its reporters had reviewed.

Later on Thursday evening, Trump announced that he'd directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue the release of grand jury testimony from Epstein's prosecution, in response to the "ridiculous amount of publicity" the case is receiving. 

Trump denies he had anything to do with the letter. "This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story," Trump told the Journal in a Tuesday-evening interview. "I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women. ???It's not my language. It's not my words." He vowed to take the paper to court if it published the story: "I'm gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else."

Even if the letter is authentic, it's far from conclusive that Trump's imagery and celebration of "secrets" referred to illegal conduct with underage females. Nonetheless, the story compounds the sustained controversy over the president's declarations that the FBI's "Epstein files" are a Democrat hoax, and his coalition-splitting characterization that conservatives who are pressing for the release of more Epstein documents are "weaklings" who "haven't learned their lesson."  

The Journal said it "reviewed" the letter, but did not publish an image of it. According to the report, the letter was one of many contained in a leather-bound book compiled in 2003 by since-convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. The book was a gift to celebrate Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. Others who submitted letters include billionaire Leslie Wexner and attorney Alan Dershowitz.