The scandal over President Donald Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files issue is not going away. As his MAGA base rails against the Justice Department and congressional Republicans attempting to bury the issue, Democrats are amplifying their criticisms of the chaotic state of affairs.
On Tuesday, House Republicans voted as a bloc, 211 to 210, and defeated a Democratic effort to compel the government to release information on Epstein, a convicted sex offender who was charged with trafficking minors. The result echoed the outcome of a Monday vote in the House Rules Committee that also kept Epstein information under wraps.
For years, Republicans have campaigned on the claim that when in power, they would reveal the government’s Epstein information, including the contents of his purported client list. But the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has now claimed the information they touted isn’t there and that further information would be withheld. The stance has led to unusual criticism of Trump from MAGA supporters.
Democrats are now mocking the apparent Republican cover-up and calling for transparency.
“Did anyone really think the sexual-predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files?” Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia asked at a rally on Saturday.
Rep. Katharine Clark, the Massachusetts Democrat who serves as House Minority Whip, released a video on Wednesday, calling for the release of the files.
“The Republicans are fighting with themselves over what? The Epstein files,” she said. Noting that Trump and Republicans are backtracking from their previous promises on the material, Clark asked, “What is the administration hiding?”
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington echoed the question in a post of her own, asking, “What are they hiding?”
Kendall Witmer, rapid-response director for the Democratic National Committee, slammed the GOP vote in a statement: “Republicans talked a big game about releasing the Epstein files during the campaign, and now they are chickening out. It doesn’t matter how the GOP tries to spin it—either they lied to the American people to get elected, or they are lying now to protect Donald Trump from any accountability for his long association with an infamous sex trafficker.”
“There’s no excuse for blocking the release of the Epstein files,” Rep. Judy Chu, Democrat of California, noted. “The public has a right to know who enabled his heinous crimes. Republicans are blocking Americans from the truth.”
Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania accused Republicans of “choosing to protect a morally corrupt and crooked President and his administration.”
Trump fumed over the issue in a Wednesday morning rant posted to his Truth Social platform. He accused Democrats of pushing a “SCAM” that “we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”
“[M]y PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump lamented. “[A]ll these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”
Apparently, his own family is a part of the “hoax.” His daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, recently told a right-wing YouTube show that the administration needs more “transparency” on the Epstein issue.
Republicans have spent years fostering a conspiracy culture, but now that they control the government, that focus is ripping them apart—and Democrats are giving them hell for it.