Trump tells Republicans to vote for release of Epstein files

Donald Trump has urged House Republicans to vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal.

The US House is expected to vote this week on legislation that would force the Justice Department to release the files to the public, and any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.

“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,” Trump wrote on social media late on Sunday.

“I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”

His post came after House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believed a vote on releasing the documents should help put to rest allegations that Trump had any connection to Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of underage girls.

Supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.

Trump claimed “some ‘members’ of the Republican Party are being ‘used,’ and we can’t let that happen.”

His comments also come amid a fight within the Republican Party over the files, including an escalating row with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had until now been one of his fiercest supporters.

Politicians who support the bill have been predicting a big win in the House this week with a “deluge of Republicans” voting for it.

In his opposition to the proposal, Trump even reached out to two of the Republican politicians who signed it.

One, Lauren Boebert, met last week with administration officials in the White House Situation Room to discuss it.

The bill would allow information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations to be redacted.

The vote comes at a time when new documents are raising fresh questions about Epstein and his associates, including a 2019 email that Epstein wrote to a journalist that said Trump “knew about the girls.” It was not clear what that phrase meant. 

The White House has accused Democrats of selectively leaking the emails to smear the Republican president.

Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, also had many prominent acquaintances in political and celebrity circles.