Trump calls on Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote to release Epstein files

US President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers in his own party to vote to release files related to the late convicted pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump wrote on Sunday evening that Republicans in the House of Representatives should do so “because we have nothing to hide.”

The reversal of his recent position follows a slow rollout of documents on the disgraced financier by House Democrats, some of which point to Trump, who has always denied any link to Epstein’s sexual abuse and human trafficking.

But details about his and other prominent figures’ past relationships with Epstein have fueled speculation and led to a public feud with one of Trump’s staunchest supporters.

Potentially dozens of Republicans have now indicated they are willing to break ranks and vote for a bill that would force the US government to publish all documents it holds about Epstein and the criminal investigations into him.

Supporters of the bill appear to have enough votes to get it passed by the House of Representatives this week, although it is unclear whether it will pass in the Senate, the other chamber of the US Congress.

Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019, where a coroner later ruled a suicide. He was being held on sex trafficking charges after previously being convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor into prostitution.

Trump reiterated the White House’s focus on the Epstein files as a Democratic-led “hoax” to distract from his party’s work.

“The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages about ‘Epstein’ to the public, looking at various Democratic operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship with Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can get what they are legally entitled to, I don’t care!,” he wrote on his social platform Truth.

He added that he wanted Republicans to get “BACK ON THE POINT.”

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson made a similar point on Sunday, saying calls to release the files were the “whole plan” for opposition Democrats.

“Trump has clean hands,” Johnson told Fox News. ‘He’s not worried about it. I talk to him all the time. He has nothing to do with this. He’s frustrated that they’re making it a political issue.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has rejected the need to release more documents, despite this being a key demand of many of his supporters and some of his key allies.

Trump has historically been photographed at social gatherings with Epstein but has repeatedly said he had cut off contact with the financier years before Epstein’s conviction in 2008 and was unaware of his criminal activities.

The US president’s change of position on the issue comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published three email exchanges, including correspondence between Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

Some of those exchanges refer to Trump. In an email sent in 2011, Epstein writes to Maxwell: “I want you to realize that the dog that hasn’t barked is Trump. [VICTIM] spent hours with him at my house.”

The White House said Wednesday that the victim referenced in the email was prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.

The emails do not suggest Trump committed any wrongdoing.

Hours after the release, Republicans in the House of Representatives released a much larger tranche of 20,000 files to counter what they said was a Democratic effort to “cherry pick” documents in an effort to “create a fake narrative to smear Trump.”

Both Democrats and some Republicans support legislation to release all the documents. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday that as many as 100 Republicans could vote in favor.

Known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the bill aims to force the Justice Department to release all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials linked to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump would also have to sign the release of the documents if it passes both legislative chambers.

In a letter to Congress, Epstein’s survivors and Giuffre’s family called on US lawmakers to vote in favor of releasing the files.

“Remember that your primary duty is to your constituents. Look into the eyes of your children, your sisters, your mothers and your aunts,” the letter reads.

“Imagine if they had been preyed upon. Imagine if you were a survivor yourself. What would you want for them? What would you want for yourself? When you vote, we will remember your decision at the ballot box.”

Trump’s handling of the issue in recent days has led to a public feud with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenetraditionally one of its fiercest supporters.

The US president attacked her on Friday, calling her “crazy” and a “traitor” and suggesting she should be removed from her seat in next year’s elections.

Greene, in turn, questioned whether Trump was still putting “America first” and said he was “making an example” of her to deter other Republicans from voting for the bill.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice has confirmed it will investigate Epstein’s alleged ties to major banks and several prominent Democrats, including former US President Clinton. He has vehemently denied that he had any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

The names of Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn and a prominent Democratic donor, and Summers, Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, both appeared in the most recent publication.

Summers has previously expressed regret over having contact with Epstein after his conviction, while Hoffman has said the extent of his involvement with the broker was to raise money for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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