Trump says Republicans questioning Jeffrey Epstein case are ‘weaklings’

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on July 16 attacked fellow Republicans critical of his administration’s handling of the case of dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On social media and in the Oval Office, Mr Trump lashed out at allies he said were falling for a “hoax” pushed by Democrats, who “unlike Republicans... stick together like glue”.

Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, was facing federal charges of sex-trafficking minors when he died by suicide in jail in 2019. He had pleaded not guilty, and the case was dismissed after his death.

Some of Mr Trump’s most loyal followers were enraged when his administration

last week reversed course

on its pledge to release documents it had suggested contained major revelations about Epstein and his alleged clientele.

“It’s all been a big hoax,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans, and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats’ work.”

On his Truth Social platform earlier in the day, Mr Trump said of Republicans raising concerns about the case: “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats’ work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support any more!”

The backlash over the Epstein case has laid bare tensions inside Mr Trump’s coalition and is testing one of his most enduring political strengths: his ability to command loyalty and control the narrative across the right.

Mr Mike Flynn, a former Trump adviser, on July 16 said on social media platform X that the matter was not a hoax. “With my strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a way to move past this,” he said.

The Justice Department last week concluded

there was “no incriminating client list”

or any evidence that Epstein may have blackmailed prominent people. The review also confirmed prior findings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Epstein killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial, and that his death was not the result of a criminal act such as murder.

The findings contradicted earlier suggestions – made before Mr Trump’s inauguration in January by current Trump administration officials Dan Bongino and Kash Patel – that the government was concealing key information about the Epstein case.

A February comment by Attorney-General Pam Bondi, which she later clarified, further amplified the speculation.

In recent weeks, the rumours have gained traction as conservative influencers and media figures have continued to promote the idea of hidden bombshell disclosures.

Some House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, have continued to call for the Justice Department to release more Epstein documents.

But Republicans have blocked efforts by Democratic lawmakers to push measures that would force the agency to make those documents public.

Mr Trump, who knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s, on July 16 again defended Ms Bondi’s handling of the matter and said she could release any credible documents related to the case.

“Whatever’s credible, she can release,” he told reporters. “If a document’s there that’s credible, she can release. I think it’s good.”

But he was also eager to move past the issue. “I’d rather talk about the success we have with the economy,” he said. REUTERS