In a striking political twist, US President Donald Trump has announced support for releasing more files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The move comes after weeks of division in the Republican Party and days before a pivotal House vote on forcing the Justice Department to unseal the remaining Epstein documents. Trump, who once opposed the measure, now says ‘we have nothing to hide,’ urging House Republicans to vote in favor of transparency.
00:00U.S. President Donald Trump on the 16th of November said he backed lawmakers' efforts to release more files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
00:11Despite previous opposition to the measure Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform,
00:16House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide.
00:22The 79-year-old Republican has accused Democrats of pushing an Epstein hoax after emails emerged in which the disgraced financier suggested Trump knew about the girls.
00:35Some critics have accused Trump of trying to conceal details about his own alleged wrongdoing, something the president denies by looking to block the vote.
00:44The issue has divided his typically loyal Republican Party and driven a rift between Trump and some of his closest allies within his Make America Great Again movement over the weekend.
00:58Trump withdrew his endorsement for Congresswoman and MAGA stalwart, Marjorie Taylor Greene's 2026 re-election bid.
01:06Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he would hold a vote this week on a bid to force the Justice Department to release the remaining files relating to the Epstein probe.
01:18Trump, in reference to lawmakers who backed a call by Democrats to release the files, wrote in a post,
01:23Some members of the Republican Party are being used and we can't let that happen.
01:29After the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown ended last week, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives released a trove of emails obtained from Epstein's estate.
01:45In one, Epstein wrote that Trump spent hours with one of the victims at his house, and another referred to the president as dirty.
01:54Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the messages,
01:58raised serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein's horrific crimes.
02:05After the email trove's release, Trump demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI investigate links between Epstein and ex-president Bill Clinton, a Democrat,
02:16along with former Harvard President Larry Summers, who served as Clinton's Treasury Secretary.
02:21The order for a probe comes, even though the FBI and Justice Department said in a memo in July that they had not uncovered evidence that would justify an investigation of uncharged third parties.
02:35With the help of Ghislaine Maxwell, who acted as a recruiter, Epstein brought underage girls to his residences, notably in New York and Florida, where they were sexually abused, often under the guise of providing erotic messages.
02:50Before Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial in a paedophile trafficking case, he had been required to register as a sex offender in Florida after pleading guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution, including from a minor.
03:08Trump's conspiracy-minded supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have been furious since the FBI and Justice Department said, on July 7, that Epstein had killed himself while in jail, did not blackmail any prominent figures and did not keep a client list.
Be the first to comment