Trump urges Republicans to vote for release of Epstein files in reversal of stance

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has 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.

Mr Trump’s post on his Truth Social came after House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier he believed a vote on releasing Justice Department documents in the Epstein case should help put to rest allegations that Mr 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,” Mr Trump wrote late on Nov 16. “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’.”

Although Mr Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the President has said the two men fell out before Epstein’s convictions. E-mails released last week by a House committee showed the disgraced financier believed Mr Trump

“knew about the girls”

, though it is not clear what that phrase meant.

Mr Trump, who recently dismissed the Epstein files as a Democratic smear campaign, has since instructed the Justice Department to investigate

prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein

.

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

Many of Mr 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.

Mr Trump on Nov 14

withdrew his support

for 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.

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and an original sponsor of the petition calling for a vote on the files’ release, said on Nov 16 he expected more than 40 Republicans to vote in favour.

Republicans hold the majority in the House, with 219 seats, versus 214 for Democrats. REUTERS