House set to vote on release of Epstein documents after Trump U-turn | US politics

The US House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, is expected to vote on Tuesday to force the release of investigative files linked to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the latest initiative in a scandal that has haunted Donald Trump since his return to the White House.

In a sharp reversal this weekend, Trump on Sunday abandoned his opposition to a vote making public the records of the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Epstein. On Monday, Trump said he would sign the measure if it reached his desk.

Trump’s friendship with Epstein is a long-running scandal in American politics, as the late disgraced financier had ties to many other wealthy and powerful figures in the United States and abroad. As a candidate seeking re-election, Trump promised to release records on Epstein, who investigators believe killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Since returning to office, Trump has failed to follow through on his promises.

The president’s drastic change came after it became increasingly clear that the bill would pass the House, most likely with significant support from Republican lawmakers. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have shifted their approach from outright opposition to declarations of indifference.

“I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday. “All I 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 “hijack” the successes of the White House, and claimed it was a “hoax” and a “Democratic problem.”

“We will give them everything,” he told reporters. “Let the Senate look at it, let anyone 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 documents in its possession, as he already did with government documents related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy.

In an X-rated message 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 force a vote on their bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, if a majority of the House’s 435 members sign it. Johnson went to extraordinary lengths to avoid a vote on the measure, which divided his conference. Democrats accused the president of delaying the swearing-in of Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva to prevent her from becoming the decisive 218th signer. She signed the petition moments after being sworn in last week.

Following Trump’s reversal, several House Republicans, including close allies of the president, publicly declared their intention to vote to release the records, meaning the measure could pass unanimously.

If the House passes the resolution, it will go to the Senate, which will also have to vote on it before sending it to Trump for his signature. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office declined to comment on what he plans to do about the bill.

In an interview with Pod Save America on Monday, Khanna, the California congressman leading the House campaign, said he now expects the measure to pass the Senate “quickly.”

Emails released last week by a House committee showed that Epstein believed Trump “knew about the girls,” although the meaning of that phrase was unclear. The White House said the released emails contained no evidence of wrongdoing by Trump.

Last week, Trump asked the Justice Department to investigate ties between prominent Democrats and Epstein. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said earlier this year that a review of the records revealed no further lines of inquiry, told Trump she would take care of it immediately and appointed a prosecutor to lead the effort.

The Epstein scandal is a central issue for part of Trump’s right-wing base, some of whom believe in conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein and his coterie of powerful friends and associates. Unlike many other issues, the Epstein files have sparked rebellion from Trump supporters in politics and the media, calling on him to follow through on his campaign promise to release them.

Meanwhile, several Epstein survivors have stepped up their pressure on Congress to pass the measure.

“It’s time to bring the secret out of the shadows,” one of Epstein’s victims said in a video released by the organization World Without Exploitation, which is urging Americans to call their lawmakers and demand they vote to release more documents.

On Monday evening, activists projected an image of Trump and Epstein onto the Justice Department building, accompanied by the message: “Release the files now.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report