(Reuters) – (This Nov. 17 story has been corrected to say that Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state charge, not that he was convicted of state and federal charges, in paragraph 5)
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on forcing the release of investigative files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with passage seen as all but guaranteed after President Donald Trump dropped his long-standing opposition.
Trump’s reversal late on Sunday came days after a House petition gathered enough support to force a vote, a rare instance of House Republicans defying the president’s wishes.
Until the weekend, Trump and his staff had lobbied hard to prevent any further release of files from the criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into Epstein, a wealthy New York financier who was, for a time, friends with Trump.
“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide,” the Republican president wrote late on Sunday on social media, calling the matter a “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats.
Democrats, and even some of Trump’s supporters, say there is nothing hoax-like in the release of authentic Justice Department records. Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state felony prostitution charge in 2008 and served 13 months in jail. The U.S. Justice Department in 2019 charged him with sex trafficking of minors. Epstein pleaded not guilty to those charges and died in what was ruled a suicide later that year before his trial.
California Representative Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said Trump failed in his effort to quash the House’s Epstein investigation and changed course because “he’s panicking and has realized he is about to lose this Epstein vote.”
TRUMP REVERSES POSITION
Trump’s change of heart came about because he had grown exasperated with Republicans’ fixation on the Epstein files and wanted them to focus on the cost of living and other issues that matter more to voters, a senior White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believed a vote on releasing the files should help put to rest allegations that Trump had any connection to Epstein’s abuse. He later told reporters the vote would be held on Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s never had anything to hide,” Johnson told reporters on Monday, referring to Trump. “He and I had the same concern, that we wanted to ensure that victims of these heinous crimes are completely protected from disclosure.”
Supporters of the files’ release say they also share this concern, and the resolution on which House lawmakers will vote says the Justice Department may withhold or redact the identifying information of victims.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who has led the push to release the files, said the House was likely to follow a procedure that would require a two-thirds vote to pass, but that he expects the bill to clear that hurdle, perhaps even unanimously.
If the bill is ultimately agreed to by the Senate, Massie said he was worried the Justice Department might slow-walk the release of documents by citing exemptions for an ongoing investigation. Trump recently directed the department to conduct one targeting Democrats.
“They’re breaking the law if they redact for any of the purposes that we excluded, like embarrassment,” Massie told reporters.
If the House passes the resolution, it would move to the Senate, which would also need to vote on it before sending it to Trump to sign. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office declined to comment on plans for the bill.
TRUMP DENIES EPSTEIN RELATIONSHIP
Trump partied with Epstein in New York and Florida’s Palm Beach in the 1990s and 2000s, along with other members of the U.S. and international power elite.
The president has said his friendship with Epstein ended some time in the 2000s and he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes, and that his political enemies are trying to smear him by insinuating otherwise. Reporters’ questions about Epstein have visibly angered him this year.
Emails released last week by a House committee showed the disgraced financier believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant. The White House said the released emails contained no proof of wrongdoing by Trump.
Last week, Trump instructed the Justice Department to investigate prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who earlier this year said a review of the files revealed no further investigative leads, replied to Trump that she would get on it right away.
Many of Trump’s most loyal supporters believe the government is withholding sensitive documents that would reveal Epstein’s ties to powerful public figures who have managed to escape scrutiny.
This has led to Trump falling out with one of his staunchest Republican supporters in Congress, U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whom he publicly denounced as a traitor after her persistent criticism of how the party has dealt with the Epstein files.
