President Trump has told House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, a sudden reversal in his position on the issue.
“We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media late Sunday.
“The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on ‘Epstein,’ are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE! All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT,” he wrote.
Mr. Trump had previously pressured Republican lawmakers to block the legislation this week that would force the Justice Department to release its files on the late Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who trafficked underage women and may have provided them to his wealthy and politically powerful friends.
A growing number of Republicans are expected to support the bill, which is authored by Reps. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, California Democrat, would have pushed back on GOP leadership and the White House.
Mr. Massie and Mr. Khanna introduced a discharge petition in July for their bill. If a discharge petition receives support from a majority of lawmakers, 218, it circumvents House leadership to force a vote. The move is seldom successful, but the Epstein files petition hit 218 signatures last week, with all Democrats and four Republicans signing on.
The three Republicans who joined Mr. Massie on the discharge petition are Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
The president’s reversal is a tacit admission that supporters of the bill have enough votes to pass it in the House. However, the legislation faced an uphill climb in the Senate, though Mr. Trump’s new position could alter that.
Mr. Trump also could veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
Mr. Massie on Sunday said he hopes his bill attains a “veto-proof majority” when the vote comes to the floor.
The legislation would compel the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, and any information about the investigation into his death in a New York jail in 2019, which was ruled a suicide.
Under the Massie-Khanna bill, information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations would be redacted.
SEE ALSO: House Speaker Johnson insists Trump has ‘clean hands’ in Epstein case
Efforts to release the Epstein files contributed to a rift between Mr. Trump and Ms. Greene, a conservative firebrand who was once a top Trump ally.
Ms. Greene has been vocal about wanting the release of the Epstein files and critical of Mr. Trump on other issues in recent weeks, causing the president to withdraw his endorsement of her.
When a reporter asked about Ms. Greene on Sunday, Mr. Trump said: “I don’t think anybody cares about her.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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