US President Donald Trump has now openly asked House Republicans to vote for the release of files connected to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This comes after weeks of criticism that Trump was trying to stop the vote, something he has repeatedly denied.
His post appeared on Truth Social soon after House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that releasing the files might help clear the air around claims that the POTUS is hiding something.
In the post, Trump repeated the claims that the party had “nothing to hide” and called the fixation on Epstein a “Democrat hoax” meant to distract from “recent Republican wins.”
Trump urges GOP to release Epstein files
On Sunday, Trump wrote a long message addressing both supporters and critics. He reminded the media that he had already spoken about this issue while aboard Air Force One on Friday night. “As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat “Shutdown,” he wrote.
He also listed several top Democrats, including Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman and Larry Summers, saying the Justice Department was looking into their connections with Epstein. “The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on “Epstein,” are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I don’t care.”
Trump added that the House Oversight Committee “can have whatever they are legally entitled to,” saying he did not care about the files themselves. What he did care about, he said, was getting Republicans “back on point” and focused on issues like the economy, affordability, inflation, tax cuts, border security and stopping “men in women’s sports.”
All I do care about is that Republicans get back on point, which is the Economy, “Affordability” (where we are winning BIG!), our Victory on reducing Inflation from the highest level in History to practically nothing, bringing down prices for the American People, delivering Historic Tax Cuts, gaining Trillions of Dollars of Investment into America (A RECORD!), the rebuilding of our Military, securing our Border, deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens, ending Men in Women’s Sports, stopping Transgender for Everyone, and so much more!”
He claimed Democrats would have released anything damaging before Republicans’ “landslide election victory,” and warned that some Republican lawmakers were being “used.” He continued, “Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory. Some “members” of the Republican Party are being “used,” and we can’t let that happen. Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein “TRAP,” which is actually a curse on the Democrats, not us.”
The House is expected to move toward a vote. While Trump insists the files should be released, he also wants Republicans to return their focus to core issues like inflation, affordability, immigration and the economy.
Trump and Epstein’s past ties and scrutiny
Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together years ago, Trump has said their friendship ended long ago. Trump’s announcement comes just days after bombshell emails released by a House committee suggested Epstein believed Trump “knew about the girls,” and claimed he was aware of “how dirty he was,” though the meaning of that phrase remains unclear. Trump has dismissed these claims as political attacks and has ordered the Justice Department to look into Epstein’s ties with several Democratic figures..
The call to release the material has also exposed disagreements within the Republican Party. Congressman Thomas Massie questioned whether Trump’s new order for a investigation into Democrats might be a last attempt to delay the files from becoming public. On ABC’s This Week, Massie criticised Trump for instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Democrats’ links to Epstein, saying this could complicate or slow down the release.
