In latest days, as the US Home of Representatives approached a possible vote about releasing the Epstein recordsdata, President Donald Trump pivoted on the hot-button matter.
Trump and members of his administration had sought to undermine efforts to launch the recordsdata associated to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. And Trump has been dismissive of the push to make the recordsdata public, calling the case “fairly boring stuff” in July and repeatedly referring to it as a Democratic “hoax.”
Advisable Tales
checklist of three gadgetsfinish of checklist
Then, on November 16, he informed Home Republicans to vote in favour of the discharge.
His shift got here after lawmakers cleared a major hurdle on November 12, netting 218 signatures on a petition to power a vote on a invoice to launch the recordsdata inside 30 days. The Home is anticipated to vote on that invoice this week. Beforehand, it was thought of unlikely the laws would cross within the Senate; it stays to be seen whether or not Trump’s newest assertion will trigger senators to rethink.
Epstein moved in the identical social circles as Trump within the 1990s, together with attending events at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s personal Palm Seashore, Florida, membership. The 2 have been photographed collectively in social settings a number of occasions. They later had a falling out, a rift that some reporters dated to late 2007.
Palm Seashore County prosecutors investigated Epstein after reviews {that a} 14-year-old woman was molested at his mansion. In 2008, Epstein pleaded responsible to state fees associated to soliciting prostitution from somebody below 18. He acquired preferential therapy in the course of the felony investigation and served a couple of yr in jail, largely on work launch.
In 2018, The Miami Herald printed an intensive investigation into the case, and the following yr, Epstein was arrested on federal fees for recruiting dozens of underage women to his New York Metropolis mansion and Palm Seashore property from 2002 to 2005 to have interaction in intercourse acts for cash. He was discovered lifeless in his Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019, and investigators concluded he died by suicide.
We requested the White Home why Trump modified his stance on releasing the recordsdata. White Home spokesperson Abigail Jackson mentioned in an announcement, “President Trump has been constantly calling for transparency associated to the Epstein recordsdata for years – by releasing tens of 1000’s of pages of paperwork, cooperating with the Home Oversight Committee’s subpoena request” and calling for investigations into “Epstein’s Democrat mates”.
Right here’s what Trump has mentioned in 2024 and 2025 about releasing the Epstein recordsdata.
Whereas campaigning in 2024, Trump mentioned he would launch the recordsdata
In June 2024, Fox and Mates co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy requested Trump if he would declassify numerous recordsdata, together with these associated to 9/11 and former President John F Kennedy.
“Would you declassify the Epstein recordsdata?” Campos-Duffy mentioned.
“Yeah, yeah, I’d,” Trump mentioned.
The clip unfold on social media, and Trump’s marketing campaign account additionally shared it.
🚨 President Trump says he’ll DECLASSIFY the 9/11 Information, JFK Information, and Epstein Information pic.twitter.com/JalLWFkRDZ
— Trump Conflict Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 3, 2024
Throughout the identical interview, Trump additionally mentioned, “I suppose I’d.” He added, “You don’t need to have an effect on folks’s lives if it’s phoney stuff in there as a result of there may be a number of phoney stuff with that entire world, however I feel I’d.”
On a September 2024 episode of the Lex Fridman podcast, throughout a dialogue about releasing a number of the Epstein paperwork, Trump mentioned, “Yeah, I’d definitely check out it.” He added that he’d be “inclined” to do it and mentioned, “I’d don’t have any downside with it.”
In 2025, Trump was dismissive of the Epstein recordsdata
Early within the second Trump administration, Trump officers – together with Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, who turned the FBI director – mentioned they supported releasing the recordsdata.
In late February at a White Home occasion, Bondi launched what she known as the “first section” of “declassified Epstein recordsdata” to conservative influencers. It largely consisted of paperwork that had already been made public.
In a July 12 Reality Social publish, Trump expressed frustration in regards to the Epstein recordsdata. Talking to reporters on July 15 on the White Home garden, Trump mentioned the recordsdata “have been made up by Comey. They have been made up by Obama. They have been made up by Biden.” We rated that declare Pants on Hearth.
Trump mentioned the FBI ought to concentrate on investigating different points, similar to voter fraud, and that his administration ought to “not waste Time and Vitality on Jeffrey Epstein, any person that no person cares about”.
In a July 16 interview with Actual America’s Voice, a conservative outlet, Trump mentioned, “I feel within the case of Epstein, they’ve already checked out it and they’re taking a look at it and I feel all they need to do is put out something credible. However you realize, that was run by the Biden administration for 4 years.”
On August 22, a reporter requested Trump if he was in favour of releasing the recordsdata.
“I’m in help of conserving it open,” he mentioned. “Harmless folks shouldn’t be damage, however I’m in help of conserving it completely open. I couldn’t care much less. You bought lots of people that may very well be talked about in these recordsdata that don’t need to be, folks – as a result of he knew all people in Palm Seashore. I don’t know something about that, however I’ve mentioned to Pam (Bondi) and all people else, give them the whole lot you may give them as a result of it’s a Democrat hoax.”
On September 3, a reporter requested Trump a query about efforts to launch the Epstein recordsdata and if the Justice Division was defending any mates or donors.
Trump mentioned it was a “Democrat hoax that by no means ends” and “we’ve given 1000’s of pages of recordsdata”.
This month, Trump known as for releasing the recordsdata
Trump got here out in help of releasing the recordsdata after it turned clear the Home was headed in that course.
The Home Oversight Committee, on November 12, launched about 20,000 pages of paperwork from Epstein’s property.
Trump directed prosecutors to research Democrats and informed Republicans to vote in favour of releasing the recordsdata.
Trump has usually famous Epstein’s ties to former President Invoice Clinton. In a November 14 Reality Social publish, Trump requested the Justice Division to investigate Epstein’s involvement with Clinton.
Sometimes, prosecutors don’t launch recordsdata throughout an ongoing investigation, so Trump’s announcement raised questions on whether or not the Justice Division will withhold sure recordsdata even when Congress votes to launch them.
When a reporter requested Trump on November 14 about releasing the recordsdata, he mentioned, “I don’t care about it, launched or not.”
Two days later, in a November 16 publish, Trump mentioned, “Home Republicans ought to vote to launch the Epstein recordsdata, as a result of we have now nothing to cover, and it’s time to maneuver on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics as a way to deflect from the Nice Success of the Republican Get together, together with our latest Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown.’’
