President Donald Trump on Sunday asked House Republicans to support the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, dramatically changing course on a hot-button issue he has long opposed.
“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it is time to move on from this Democratic hoax perpetrated by radical left lunatics to divert us from the great success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote in Truth Social.
Last week, Trump had called efforts to release the files a “hoax,” saying Democrats were bringing them up to “deflect how badly they did during the shutdown.”
In the post, Trump said the Justice Department has already released “tens of thousands” of pages about Epstein and highlighted his recent decision to order the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s relationship with notable Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton. Trump’s question came after a series of emails that mentioned figures on both sides of the aisle, including the president himself.
A Clinton spokesperson told NBC News on Friday that the released emails “prove that Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing.”
“The rest is noise intended to distract from election losses, counterproductive shutdowns and who knows what else,” the spokesperson said in a statement Friday night.
Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., last week reached enough signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote on the measure in the House of Representatives. They gained support from Trump allies, including Reps. Nancy Mace, R-Colo., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. The petition also earned the signature of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who over the weekend had a falling out with Trump, which Greene attributed to his defense of the release of Epstein’s files.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has opposed the effort but said Wednesday he would bring the measure to the floor this week. To become law, the bill would also need to pass the GOP-controlled Senate and obtain Trump’s signature.
NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment on Trump’s post.
Trump was friends with Epstein for years, but said the two had a “feud,” reportedly around 2007. Epstein, who committed suicide in jail in 2019, has been at the center of conspiracy theories about his death and criminal case, and many in Trump’s base supported greater transparency around the disgraced financier. Trump promised transparency in the campaign and even named Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to the top two FBI jobs; Both, before joining the administration as director and deputy director of the FBI, used their media platforms to characterize the Epstein case as part of a cover-up to protect powerful people.
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes.
The Epstein files have caused a stir among the MAGA base, with the president’s supporters this year expressing outrage over the Trump administration’s decision not to release more files.
The backlash led to the eventual dismissal petition led by Khanna and Massie. Shortly after, Trump’s team launched a task force to unseat Massie. The president has since endorsed Massie’s rival in the Republican primary.
This is a development history. Please check back for updates.
