NEED TO KNOW
Donald Trump is calling on Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote for the release of the Epstein files after previously referring to them as a “hoax.”
On Sunday, Nov. 16, Trump, 79, posted on Truth Social that he wanted Republicans in the House to support the upcoming vote, which would demand the Justice Department to share more evidence collected about the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
“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,” the president wrote.
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It comes after Trump told reporters on Friday, Nov. 14, that he “doesn’t care” if additional documents are released.
This comment aboard Air Force One came after the House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 pages of evidence they had received from the Epstein estate. Trump is mentioned multiple times in the documents, which detail emails that Epstein sent over the years.
Democrats on the committee released three such emails on Wednesday, Nov. 12. In one, Epstein told author and journalist Michael Woff that Trump “knew about the girls,” renewing questions about their relationship.
In other emails, Epstein referred to Trump as “borderline insane” and questioned if the president had “early dementia.” He also described the Republican lawmaker as the worst person he knew, saying that he was “dangerous.”
In response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Wednesday, Nov. 12, “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,”
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” the statement added.
Trump’s post on Sunday also referred to the documents. “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,” Trump wrote.
“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!” he added.
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Trump also signaled that he wants the Department of Justice to open investigations into prominent Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton in an earlier Truth Social post on Friday, Nov. 14.
“I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” Trump wrote.
Bondi, the U.S. attorney general, replied within hours on X, signifying that the department would move “with urgency and integrity.”
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The Epstein vote in the House is expected to take place this week after a discharge petition fronted by Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie reached the mandatory number of signatures to take it to the floor.
Multiple Republicans in the House had signaled that they would vote for the release of the files even before Trump told them to, including Trump’s once-close ally Marjorie Taylor Greene.
On Saturday, Nov. 15, Trump pulled his support from Greene in a fiery statement on social media, to which she replied, “President Trump just attacked me and lied about me.”
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If the House passes the bill, it will go on to the Senate, which also has a Republican majority. Before any files could be released, Trump would also need to sign off on it, according to NBC News.
While Trump campaigned on the idea of releasing the files, he backtracked on the idea and started referring to them as a “hoax” on Truth Social in July.
