Facing Party Mutiny After Calling Epstein Files a ‘Hoax,' Trump Calls for House Vote on Releasing Them

President Donald Trump has spent months doing everything in his power to downplay and dismiss calls to release the government’s files about his former friend, the powerful sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. But as he faces a mutiny within his own party and a steady drip of new scandalous details about his relationship with the disgraced financier, Trump abruptly changed course on Sunday, calling for House Republicans to hold a vote on releasing the files.

" House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "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."

Trump claimed that his Department of Justice "has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on 'Epstein.'" But while the DOJ has released small tranches of heavily redacted files, most of the nearly 60,000 pages of emails and documents released to the public have come through the House Oversight Committee, which has subpoenaed DOJ files and records from Epstein’s estate.

Last week, a new batch of documents shed new light on Trump's relationship with Epstein. In one 2019 email to author Michael Wolff, Epstein said Trump "knew about the girls" he'd trafficked. In earlier emails to his co-conspirator Ghislane Maxwell, Epstein described Trump as a "dog that hasn’t barked” and said that one of his victims had "spent hours at my house" with Trump.

And far from his claims of transparency, Trump aggressively tried last week to pressure GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Nancy Mace (SC) to abandon their support for a bipartisan petition to force a House vote on the release of the files, which reportedly included pulling Boebert into the Situation Room.

In one “last-ditch” effort to defuse the full release of the files, Trump also called on Attorney General Pam Bondi, to open an investigation specifically into Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the co-sponsors of the House resolution, described the investigations as a "smokescreen" because "if they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released."

None of Trump's obstruction efforts appear to have worked. With the resolution almost sure to pass, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, dozens more Republicans have hopped on the bandwagon and appear poised to vote for it. Faced with losing more trust within his party and among his voters—who have been largely dissatisfied with his handling of the Epstein firestorm—Trump's comments on Truth Social suggested he had recognized the need for a strategic retreat.

In a post that dripped with sarcasm, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the resolution's co-sponsor, said he was "glad to see Donald Trump's complete and total endorsement of my bill."

But while Trump appeared to hope his gesture would help to quell suspicions that he’s covering up the files, Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), a member of the Oversight Committee, pointed out that it was hardly a demonstration of his transparency.

"Trump is dodging again," she wrote on social media. "There’s already a congressional subpoena for the full Epstein Files. If Trump means this, then he should release them himself right now."

The president has struggled to formulate an answer when asked why he won't simply release the files. On Friday, aboard Air Force One, a reporter asked him: "If there is nothing incriminating in the files, why not—"

Trump cut her off, shouting: "Quiet! Quiet!"

Aaron Fritschner, the deputy chief of staff for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), pointed out that while Trump has now endorsed passing the bill to release the files, "the only reason this bill is under discussion to begin with is that the Trump administration blocked the release. They’re still blocking it!"

A resolution to release all the files would still need to be passed through the Senate, which is controlled by a 53-47 Republican majority. It would also need to be signed by Trump himself.

Justin Amash, a former Republican member of Congress, said the president's retreat was being done "in classic Trump fashion."

"He’s pretending he was always good with this vote—as he and his lackeys keep scheming to prevent it from going any further," Amash said.

Others have warned that even if the DOJ is compelled to release all its files on Epstein, there is no guarantee their integrity will be preserved.

Journalist Zaid Jilani asked, "What assurance do we have that the Trump administration isn’t selectively destroying Epstein files in anticipation of being forced to release them?"

This week's House vote comes after several survivors of Epstein's abuse published a video over the weekend calling for the full release of the files.

"Five administrations and we're still in the dark," the video says. "Call your Congress member and demand they release ALL of the Epstein files."

In a statement sent to Common Dreams following Trump's pivot, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said: "Donald Trump is leading a White House cover-up and has tried everything to kill our Jeffrey Epstein investigation. He’s failed. And now he’s panicking and has realized he is about to lose this Epstein vote to force the Department of Justice to release the files."

"Let’s be crystal clear: Trump has the power to release all the files today. And he is under subpoena to do so," Garcia continued. "But instead, he wants to continue this cover-up and launch bogus new investigations to deflect and slow down our investigation. It won’t work. We will get justice for the survivors."