Trump Reverses Course and Urges House Republicans to Release Epstein Files

President Trump on Sunday evening told House Republicans to vote to release the government’s Epstein files, reversing a stance he had held for months, NPR, CNBC and NBC News reported.

“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,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. Only days earlier he had called the effort a “hoax” that Democrats were using to deflect from the shutdown, NBC News noted.

The House is expected to vote on Tuesday, according to NPR, which cited a source familiar with the schedule, and CNBC. The vote was forced by a discharge petition led by Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, according to NBC News and CNBC. The petition drew support from Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, NBC News and CNBC reported.

To become law, the measure would have to pass the Republican-controlled Senate and be signed by Mr. Trump, NBC News reported. NPR noted it is unclear whether the Senate would take it up given the president’s apparent endorsement.

In the post, Mr. Trump said the Justice Department had already released “tens of thousands” of pages and pointed to his direction to the department to investigate Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, CNBC and NBC News reported. A Clinton spokesperson told NBC News on Friday that emails released last week “prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing.”

NPR said the issue has created rare fissures in the Republican Party, since Mr. Trump faced pressure from his own side to follow through on a campaign promise to release the files. Mr. Trump withdrew his endorsement of Ms. Greene, who has been a vocal proponent of the vote, NPR reported, and CNBC said he referred to her in a late post as a “Traitor.”

The files remain only partly public. NPR reported that the Justice Department still holds documents that have not been made public, including witness interviews.

Reports differed on timing: NBC News said the House would vote this week, while NPR and CNBC said Tuesday.