BREAKING: President Trump urges house Republicans to ‘vote to release the Epstein files’

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump said he had previously told the media aboard Air Force One that GOP lawmakers should make the documents public. He claimed Democrats were pushing an “Epstein Hoax” to distract from Republican successes, including their handling of the recent government shutdown fight.

“The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the public on ‘Epstein,’” Trump wrote, adding that federal authorities were “looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein.” He said House Oversight Committee members could access any materials they were “legally entitled to.”

Trump urged his party to “get BACK ON POINT,” listing issues such as inflation, affordability, border security, the economy, and cultural policies he said were more important to voters. “Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein ‘TRAP,’” he wrote.

On Friday, Trump announced he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to investigate Epstein’s connections to high-profile Democrats and several major financial institutions. He argued that Democrats were attempting to use the Epstein matter to “deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN.”

He added, “Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory.”

The president said investigators should examine Epstein’s ties to Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, and banking institutions, including JP Morgan and Chase. Trump described the situation as “another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” and claimed records showed various figures “spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’”

The renewed political tension followed the release of three emails by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. The emails, sent by Epstein, alleged that Trump “knew about the girls” and that Virginia Giuffre, a key accuser in the Epstein case who died earlier this year, had “spent hours” at Epstein’s home with Trump.

Giuffre had repeatedly stated that Trump was not involved in any misconduct.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the release, accusing Democrats of “selectively” leaking emails to create “a fake narrative to smear President Trump.” Leavitt said Giuffre had publicly described Trump as having “couldn’t have been friendlier” interactions with her and reiterated that she had never accused him of wrongdoing.

Trump also dismissed the Democrats’ publication of the emails, claiming they were attempting to revive the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax” to shift attention away from the shutdown and other political issues.

“Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap,” he wrote, blaming Democrats for inflicting economic damage by “viciously closing our Country.” He argued Republicans should avoid any diversion related to Epstein and instead “be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats.”