Jeffrey Epstein
6 min read
In shift, Trump says House should vote to release Epstein files
It is unclear whether the Senate would take up the measure if the House passes it. Trump would also need to sign the legislation to compel the release of the documents.
In a sharp reversal, President Donald Trump said late Sunday that House Republicans should support a measure that would require the Justice Department to release the information it has related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — after key lawmakers said support was building ahead of a closely watched vote.
Trump, who has resisted backing such a measure for weeks, said on social media that he believes Republican lawmakers “should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”
“Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it” before the 2024 election, Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social, urging Republican lawmakers to focus on the economy instead.
The measure, which would compel officials at the Justice Department to release all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials relating to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein in its possession, could face hurdles in the Senate. It is not clear whether Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) would bring the measure up for a vote, and Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) was noncommittal in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
If the measure passes both chambers, Trump would have to sign it before it took effect. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether the president would do so, and Trump was silent on whether he wants to see a Senate vote as well as a House vote.
In a response late Sunday to Trump’s new stance, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said in a post on X: “The vote is to compel YOU to release them. Let’s make this easier. Just release the files now.”
Before Trump’s post on Sunday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who introduced the legislation with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), suggested that “100 or more” House Republicans could vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files this week despite opposition from Trump. Early resistance from Republican leaders led the two to press for a discharge petition to compel a vote on the matter.
“We could have a deluge of Republicans,” Massie said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote.”
Several Epstein survivors have been increasing the pressure campaign on lawmakers. A group released a video Sunday night through the organization World Without Exploitation to urge people to call their lawmakers to back the vote to release more files.
Khanna said House members who have been backing the release of more documents are planning to hold a news conference Tuesday at the Capitol with survivors. The lawmakers are also asking Trump to meet with the women.
Until Sunday, the president had been ramping up pressure against the measure, even urging the four Republicans who had signed the discharge petition to remove their names.
Trump still insisted that the focus on the Epstein files was a “hoax” promoted by Democrats, but he said Sunday night that the push to release more documents was distracting the party. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday night.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who controls which bills are brought to the floor, had resisted bringing the measure to a vote after it was introduced in July. But after the discharge petition obtained enough signatures last week to compel a vote, he said he is ready to put it before House lawmakers.
Still, Johnson tried to downplay the significance of the legislation, saying the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has been releasing more documents than the discharge petition asks for. Last week, the committee made public more than 20,000 pages from the Epstein estate, including several that mention Trump.
“So the discharge is totally moot. It is a political exercise, and we’re going to dispense with that this week,” Johnson said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Tensions between Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), one of the four Republicans who backed the discharge petition, have been growing for weeks on issues such as foreign policy and health care subsidies. But on Friday, Trump broke off his support for Greene, saying he would endorse a primary challenger in 2026.
The congresswoman said online that she saw his attacks as a form of backlash over her support of the release of the Epstein files, and the two engaged in several volleys of insults and allegations.
On Sunday, Greene told CNN’s “State of the Union” that she didn’t understand why Trump was pushing so strongly against the release of more documents, arguing that survivors of Epstein’s trafficking have told her that the president did nothing wrong.
Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing or taking part in Epstein’s sex trafficking operations, and he has denied knowing about the solicitation of underage prostitution before Epstein’s 2008 plea.
“I’m listening to the women. Those are the ones that are saying that [Trump] did nothing wrong,” Greene said. On Sunday, she also posted on X a letter of support she said she received from 27 Epstein survivors.
“We will defend you with everything we have,” the women wrote. The lawmaker from Georgia has also received the backing of the GOP chair in her home district for reelection in 2026 after Trump called Friday for a primary challenger against her.
Trump has also said that Epstein’s connections with other people and institutions deserve more scrutiny than his relationship with the deceased financier.
On Friday, at Trump’s request, the Justice Department launched an investigation to examine the relationships between Epstein and several prominent Democrats and donors. Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly tapped federal prosecutors in Manhattan to take on the job.
Legal experts raised concerns over the weekend that Trump’s demand for a new investigation could give Justice Department officials an excuse not to release all the documents.
Greene told CNN that even though Trump is attacking her, she wants him “to be successful for the American people.” Greene also said she hopes that she and the president can resolve their falling out.
“I do support him and his administration, and I support them in delivering the campaign promises we made to the American people,” she said.
Those promises, she said, include the release of the Epstein files.
Abha Bhattarai, Joseph Menn and Leo Sands contributed to this report.
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