Trump Dares Congress To Make Him ‘Release The Epstein Files’ – Which He Still Refuses To Do

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

President Donald Trump urged the House of Representatives on Sunday night to vote in favor of a bill that would compel the Department of Justice to release its files regarding deceased child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which the president can do without an act of Congress.

The House is scheduled to vote on the legislation on Tuesday. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had resisted bringing the bill to the floor, but a majority of House members – including four Republicans – signed a discharge petition to force a vote on the measure, which is expected to pass as more Republicans have said they will support it. If the bill passes, it would head to the Senate, where its fate is unclear. Should the Senate approve, the legislation would head to Trump’s desk for his signature or veto.

Notably, Trump can order the Department of Justice, which is part of the executive branch that he controls, to release the Epstein files without congressional authorization. However, he has so far refused to do so. Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly informed the president that his name appears in the files.

Posting on Truth Social on Sunday night, Trump wrote that “we have nothing to hide” when it comes to the documents he is refusing to make public:

As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, 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 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.” 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, which is the Economy, “Affordability” (where we are winning BIG!), our Victory on reducing Inflation from the highest level in History to practically nothing, bringing down prices for the American People, delivering Historic Tax Cuts, gaining Trillions of Dollars of Investment into America (A RECORD!), the rebuilding of our Military, securing our Border, deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens, ending Men in Women’s Sports, stopping Transgender for Everyone, and so much more! Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory. Some “members” of the Republican Party are being “used,” and we can’t let that happen. Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein “TRAP,” which is actually a curse on the Democrats, not us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Last week, members of the House Oversight Committee released thousands of emails to and from Epstein, which were obtained from Epstein’s estate via a subpoena. They are not to be confused with the aforementioned Epstein files held by the DOJ.

In one 2011 email to the author Michael Woff, Epstein alleged that Trump “knew about the girls.” Epstein’s email did not elaborate, but given his penchant for underage girls, the remark has raised serious questions about Trump’s knowledge of his friend’s activities. Elsewhere, Epstein claimed he “gave” Trump his ex-girlfriend.

In July, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was previously Trump’s personal attorney, interviewed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who in 2021, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex trafficking. Maxwell told Blanche that she had never witnessed Trump engaging in illegal activity. After the interview, the Department of Justice transferred Maxwell to a lower security facility, where she receives custom meals and is allowed to play with dogs.

In an interview with Fox News last year, Trump said he would release the Epstein files if elected to a second term.

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