President Donald Trump has said 'it's time to move on' as he urged lawmakers to release the Epstein files on Sunday.
Despite the commander-in-chief previously resisting the idea of all of the documents being made public, he has now urged House Republicans to vote for them to be published.
In a Truth Social post shared on Sunday (16 November), he wrote: "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."
While Trump had a long-running friendship with Epstein before the pair fell out in the early 00s, he has long denied any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse.
Advert
In recent weeks, Democrats and some Republicans have been pushing a measure that would force the Justice Department to make public more documents from the case.
The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.
The bill would force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.
Information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted.
Just last week, a host of private emails sent by the disgraced financier who took his own life in prison were released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
The president was a prominent topic of conversation between Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement in his sex trafficking ring.
And in an email sent to a journalist in 2019, Epstein also sensationally claimed that Trump 'knew about the girls'.
Discussing the prospect of releasing further files related to the case, Republican representative Thomas Massie said there 'could be 100 or more' votes from his party.
“I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote," he said.
"We’ll just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide."
Massie also said that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been releasing 'far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit'.
Trump has always denied any involvement in Epstein's sex trafficking ring.
While additional documents have been shared since Trump took office for his second term, the FBI and US Justice Department have said Epstein's widely rumoured 'client list' doesn't exist.
Ever since, his administration has been accused of 'covering up' the Epstein files.
Topics: US News, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Politics
Olivia Burke