In reversal, Trump urges Republicans to vote to release Epstein files

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday urged his fellow Republicans in Congress to vote for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing his earlier resistance to such a move.

Trump's post on his Truth Social came after House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier that he believed a vote on releasing Justice Department documents in the Epstein case — which is expected to occur this week — should help put to rest allegations that Trump had any connection to Epstein's abuse and trafficking of underage girls.

"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote on Sunday night. "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, including our recent Victory on the Democrat 'Shutdown.'"

Trump's desire to move on and change the conversation comes amid a politically rough patch. Republicans lost a small number of significant off-year elections earlier this month, and in a wide range of polls, more Americans believe the party is to blame for the recently ended six-week shutdown, even as it was initiated by the Democrats.

Trump has also reversed position on some tariffs, with White House officials telling reporters from multiple outlets last week that they want to shift focus to address affordability issues as Americans struggle with rising grocery prices and electricity bills.

Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president has said the two men fell out before Epstein's convictions. Emails released last week by a House committee suggested the disgraced financier believed Trump "knew about the girls," though it was not clear what that phrase meant.

Trump, who has recently dismissed the Epstein files as a Democratic smear campaign, has since instructed the Department of Justice to investigate prominent Democrats' ties to Epstein.

The battle over disclosure of more Epstein-related documents — a subject Trump himself campaigned on — has opened a rift with some of his allies in Congress.

Many of Trump's most loyal supporters believe the government is withholding sensitive documents about Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, that would reveal the late financier's ties to powerful public figures.

Trump late on Friday withdrew his support for U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, long one of his staunchest supporters in Congress, following her criticism of Republicans on certain issues, including the handling of the Epstein files.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and an original sponsor of the petition calling for a vote on the files' release, said on Sunday that he expected more than 40 Republicans to vote in favour.

"I don't even know how involved Trump was," Khanna said. "There are a lot of other people involved who have to be held accountable."

Khanna also asked Trump to meet with those who alleged they were abused by Epstein. Some will be at the Capitol on Tuesday for a news conference, he said.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, as it is known, would force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.