The Justice Department reportedly fired back sharply at a longtime congressional reporter Wednesday after he questioned why the agency would publicly release a letter addressed to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar if the document itself was bogus.
The exchange unfolded on X after journalist Jamie Dupree pressed the department over its handling of the controversial letter, which was attributed to Jeffrey Epstein but later deemed fake by federal investigators.
“Okay. So then why would DOJ publicly release something that’s fake? Your answers please,” Dupree wrote.
The DOJ’s official account responded bluntly, making clear it had little patience for the criticism. “Because the law requires us to release all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein in our possession so that’s what we are doing, you dope,” the account replied. “Are you suggesting we break the law?”
Dupree, who spent decades as Cox Media Group’s Washington correspondent and now publishes a Substack blog, had raised the question after the DOJ announced that the FBI determined the letter was not authentic.
According to the Justice Department, multiple red flags led investigators to conclude the letter was fake. Officials said the document was allegedly sent just days after Epstein’s death in 2019, an obvious impossibility. They also noted the postcard was mailed from Virginia, even though Epstein was incarcerated in New York at the time. Additionally, handwriting analysis showed the writing did not match Epstein’s known handwriting.
The DOJ shared those findings Tuesday, hours after the letter began circulating widely as part of a new tranche of Epstein-related documents released under federal transparency requirements.
The letter drew particular attention because it was one of several documents that referenced President Donald Trump. Addressed to Larry Nassar, the disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor and serial abuser, the letter included a crude claim suggesting that “our president also shares our love of young, nubile women.” The postcard did not explicitly name Trump, but it included language clearly alluding to him.
The text referenced the now-infamous “grab ’em by the p*ssy” remark Trump made in a private conversation in 2005, which later became public. “When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system,” the letter read.
Despite the sensational nature of the language, federal officials have said there is no evidence Epstein authored the letter or that it reflects any factual information. As of now, there has been no reporting identifying who actually sent the postcard.
The DOJ has maintained that its obligation under the law is to release all Epstein-related materials in its possession, regardless of whether individual documents are verified, flattering, or embarrassing. The department has argued that withholding materials based on subjective judgments would itself violate the statute governing the release.
President Trump addressed the broader Epstein controversy earlier this week, suggesting the renewed focus on the case is politically motivated. “This whole thing with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success” of the Republican Party, Trump told reporters on Monday.
The heated exchange between DOJ and Dupree underscores the tensions surrounding the Epstein document dump, with critics questioning the inclusion of inflammatory but unverified materials, and officials insisting they are simply following the law to the letter.
As the releases continue, the administration has signaled it will not shy away from pushing back aggressively against what it sees as misleading narratives — even when those challenges come from the press.
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