Trump’s ‘reversal’ on Epstein files delays their release and conceals a GOP rebellion
President Trump said Monday he would sign a bill to release documents from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein if Congress sends it to his desk.
Why it matters: Trump recently reversed himself and encouraged Republicans to vote to release the documents after repeatedly dismissing the scandal as a “hoax.”
What he’s saying: “Sure I would. Let the Senate look at it. Let anyone look at it, but don’t talk about it too much,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office in response to a question from a reporter.
- Trump went on to call Epstein “a Democrat problem. The Democrats were Epstein’s friends, all of them. And it’s a hoax. The whole thing is a hoax.”
- Trump said he does not want the Epstein situation to detract from “the greatness of what the Republican Party has accomplished.”
Yes, but: Trump could order the files released any time he wants without waiting for Congress. [Continue reading…]
After so much effort to assert a unitary executive, Trump apparently can’t muster the strength to pick up the phone, call Pam Bondi and say: Go ahead and release the files NOW!
What became a more pressing necessity was to obscure the scale of the anticipated rebellion among Republican members of Congress who were expected to defy the president by voting for the bill that Trump now says he would sign.
As always, delay, delay, delay is the name of the game.
What hasn’t changed is Trump’s insistence on saying, “The whole thing is a hoax.”
But that won’t silence the Epstein victims:
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
— Aaron Parnas (@aaronparnas.bsky.social) Nov 16, 2025 at 5:43 PM