By Joseph Lord
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump on Sunday evening changed course on his previous opposition to a resolution ordering the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
After previously speaking out against the Democrat-led discharge petition, Trump is now calling on his party to vote for the resolution when it comes up this week.
“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, including our recent victory on the Democrat ‘shutdown,’” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Last week, the House returned to Capitol Hill for the first time in eight weeks to vote on a measure to end the government shutdown.
Shortly before that vote, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was sworn in, becoming the 218th signature on a discharge petition requiring the Department of Justice to release the files on Epstein’s case.
Four Republicans, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., have signed onto the effort.
Following Grijalva’s swearing-in, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that a vote on the measure would be held this week.
Some Republicans, such as retiring Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., had already stated that they would back the vote when it came to the floor.
Last week, Trump announced he was pulling his support for Greene, citing her complaints about his administration’s policies. He said that Greene began to diverge from him after he suggested she should not run for senator or governor.
But Greene claimed the move came after she pushed for the release of the Epstein records. She also accused Trump of trying to intimidate Republican lawmakers ahead of the vote on the release of those files.
Trump has previously alleged that Democrats were using the Epstein files as a hoax to deflect blame for the government shutdown and said he had directed the Department of Justice to investigate Epstein’s ties to former President Bill Clinton and other prominent figures.
“Some weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish. Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrats’ problem, not the Republicans’ problem,” he stated in a separate post on Friday.
