‘We have nothing to hide’

President Donald Trump on Sunday called on House Republicans to support the release of records related to late 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 put aside this Democratic hoax perpetrated by the crazies of the radical left in order to distract from the great success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Just last week, Trump called efforts to release the files a “hoax,” saying Democrats were bringing them up to “distract attention from their bad actions on the shutdown.”

In his message, Trump said the Justice Department had already released “tens of thousands” of pages about Epstein and highlighted his recent decision ordering the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s relationships with notable Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton. Trump’s request followed a series of emails mentioning figures on both sides of the party, 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 just noise designed to distract from election losses, backfired shutdowns and who knows what else,” the spokesperson said in a statement Friday evening.

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. They gained support from Trump allies, including Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. The petition also received the signature of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who got into a spat with Trump over the weekend, which Greene attributed to his advocacy for the release of the Epstein files.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., opposed the effort — but he said Wednesday he would introduce the measure this week. To become law, the bill would also need to pass the Republican-controlled Senate and get Trump’s signature.

NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment on Trump’s post.

Trump had been friends with Epstein for years, but said the two had an “argument” — apparently around 2007. Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019, has been at the center of conspiracy theories about his death and criminal case — and many in Trump’s base have supported greater transparency around Epstein. Trump promised transparency on the campaign trail and even appointed Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to the FBI’s two top positions — both of whom, before joining the administration as FBI director and deputy director, used their media platforms to characterize the Epstein affair as part of a cover-up aimed at protecting powerful people.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes.

The Epstein files caused an uproar among the MAGA base, with Trump supporters this year expressing outrage over the administration’s decision not to release any more files.

The negative reaction led to the eventual release petition led by Khanna and Massie. Shortly after, Trump’s team launched a group to unseat Massie. Since then, Trump has supported Massie’s challenger in the Republican primaries.