The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives is expected to vote on Tuesday to force the release of investigative files related to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the latest move in a scandal that has dogged Donald Trump since he returned to the White House.
In a sharp reversal this weekend, Trump dropped his opposition to a vote releasing files from the criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice into Epstein on Sunday. On Monday, Trump said he would sign the measure if it reached his desk.
Trump’s friendship with Epstein has been a long-running scandal in American politics as the late disgraced financier had links to many other rich and powerful figures in the US and overseas. As a candidate seeking re-election, Trump promised to release the files on Epstein, who, investigators concluded, killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Since resuming office, Trump has failed to follow through.
The president’s dramatic shift came after it became increasingly apparent that the bill will pass the House, most likely with significant support from Republican lawmakers. Trump and House speaker Mike Johnson changed their approach from outright opposition to declarations of indifference.
“I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”
Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he did not want the Epstein scandal to “deflect” from the White House’s successes, and claimed it was a “hoax” and “a Democrat problem”.
“We’ll give them everything,” he told reporters. “Let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it, but don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us.”
As president, Trump has the authority to order the justice department to release the documents in its possession, as he has previously done with the government records related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy.
In an X post directed to Trump, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer wrote: “Let’s make this easier. Just release the files now.”
In July, Democratic congressmen Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie turned to an arcane procedural tactic known as a discharge petition to circumvent House leadership and compel a vote on their bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, if a majority of the 435-member House signs on. Johnson went to extraordinary lengths to avoid a vote on the the measure, which splintered his conference. Democrats accused the speaker of delaying the swearing-in of Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva to prevent her from becoming the decisive 218th signatory. She signed her name to the petition moments after being sworn in last week.
Following Trump’s reversal, several House Republicans, including close allies of the president, have publicly stated their intent to vote for the release of the files, meaning the measure could pass unanimously.
If the House passes the resolution, it would move to the Senate, which would also need to vote on it before sending it to Trump to sign. Republican Senate majority leader John Thune’s office declined to comment on what he planned to do about the bill.
In an interview with Pod Save America on Monday, Khanna, the California congressman leading the push in the House, said he now expects the measure to move “quickly” through the Senate.
Emails released last week by a House committee showed Epstein believed Trump “knew about the girls”, though it was not clear what that phrase meant. The White House said the released emails contained no proof of wrongdoing by Trump.
Last week, Trump instructed the justice department to investigate prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein. US attorney general Pam Bondi, who earlier this year said a review of the files revealed no further investigative leads, replied to Trump that she would get on it right away and has appointed a prosecutor to lead the effort.
The Epstein scandal is a core issue for a swathe of Trump’s rightwing base, some of whom believe in conspiracy theories that surround Epstein and his coterie of powerful friends and associates. Unlike many other issues, the Epstein files have prompted rebellions from Trump’s supporters in politics and the media, calling on him to follow through on his campaign promise to release them.
Meanwhile, several Epstein survivors have ramped up pressure on Congress to take up the measure.
“It’s time to bring the secret’s out of the shadows,” one of Epstein’s victims said in a video released by the organization World Without Exploitation that urges Americans to call their lawmakers and demand they vote to release more records.
On Monday night, activists projected an image of Trump and Epstein on to the justice department building, accompanied by the message: “Release the files now.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
