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In a striking reversal of his recent stance, US President Donald Trump urged his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives on Sunday night to vote for the release of files concerning convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump stated on social media that the party "has nothing to hide," a departure from his earlier claims that calls for a vote were a Democratic distraction tactic.
There has been a slow drip feed of documents concerning the disgraced financier by House Democrats, some of which reference Trump, who has always denied any link to Epstein's sex abuse and trafficking. But details of his and other prominent figures' past relationship with Epstein have fuelled speculation and led to a public spat with one of Trump's staunchest supporters.
Potentially dozens of Republicans have now signalled they are willing to break ranks and vote in favour of a bill that would compel the US government to publish all its documents on Epstein.
Supporters of the bill appear to have enough votes for it to pass the House this week, though it is unclear whether it would pass in the Senate, the other chamber of the US Congress.
Epstein, a financier, was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019, in what a coroner later ruled a suicide. He was being held on charges of sex trafficking, having previously been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
The two criminal investigations into Epstein amassed a vast trove of documents including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses, and items confiscated from raids of his various properties. The material that has not yet been made public is often referred to as the Epstein files.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has dismissed the need to release more documents, despite this being a key demand of many of his supporters and some of his key allies. He recently called it a Democrat-led "hoax" to "deflect" attention away from his party's work.
"I DON'T CARE!," he wrote on his Truth social platform, urging Republicans to "get BACK ON POINT".
