President Donald Trump executed a dramatic reversal on the Epstein files question this week, suddenly calling on House Republicans to vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein case documents.
In a Truth Social post Sunday evening, Trump urged House Republicans to support the legislation, stating, “As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”
The shift appears calculated to get ahead of an inevitable congressional vote. The House is scheduled to vote this week on the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
The measure has 218 signatures, the threshold needed to force a floor vote despite Speaker Mike Johnson’s moves to keep the vote from the floor. Rep. Massie indicated there could be “100 or more” Republicans voting to release the files, potentially creating a veto-proof majority. Trump was mentioned over 1,500 times in the House Oversight Committee’s Epstein release.
Trump’s actions have not matched his rhetoric, though. His administration has continued to resist full disclosure despite his public statements.
2024: During the presidential campaign, Trump pledged to release the Epstein files. When pocaster Lex Fridman asked if Trump would release the Epstein files, if elected president, Trump said, “Yeah, I’d certainly take a look at it. Now, Kennedy’s interesting because it’s so many years ago,” Trump said. “They do that for danger too, because it endangers certain people, et cetera, et cetera, so Kennedy is very different from the Epstein thing but I’d be inclined to do the Epstein. I’d have no problem with it.”
February 26, 2025: Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared on Fox News promising to release “a lot of flight logs” and “a lot of names” related to Epstein. She stated that the Epstein files were “sitting on my desk right now.”
February 27, 2025: The DOJ released what Bondi called the “first phase” of Epstein files. However, this release largely consisted of documents already publicly available.
March 14, 2025: Bondi reiterated in a Fox News interview that she had the files “sitting on [her] desk right now”, maintaining the administration’s commitment to transparency.
March 23, 2025: Bondi stated the administration would release documents “as soon as we can get them redacted to protect the victims.”
April 22, 2025: When asked about the Epstein files in the Oval Office, Trump claimed “100% of all of these documents are being delivered.”
May 2025: Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche privately briefed Trump at the White House, informing him that his name appeared multiple times in the Justice Department’s Epstein files. Officials said that numerous other prominent individuals were also mentioned. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump was told the department would not release additional documents due to the presence of child pornography and the need to protect victims.
July 6, 2025: The DOJ and FBI released a two-page memo concluding there was “no incriminating ‘client list'” and “no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals.” The memo stated no further charges were expected and that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
July 15, 2025: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R. 4405), calling for the release of all Epstein-related documents. Trump told supporters to “let Pam Bondi do her job” and stated she should release only “credible” information.
July 17-18, 2025: After The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had sent Epstein a suggestive birthday letter in 2003 (which Trump vehemently denied), Trump directed Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.” Bondi announced the DOJ would “move the court tomorrow to unseal” the transcripts.
July 18, 2025: Trump called those demanding the Epstein files release “troublemakers.”
July 22: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche mentioned discussions with Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorney about a potential meeting.
July 23, 2025: The Wall Street Journal publicly reported that Bondi had informed Trump in May that his name appeared in the Epstein files. When asked about this revelation, Trump contradicted the report, saying “No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing.” The same day, a federal judge in Florida denied the DOJ’s request to unseal grand jury records.
Late July: House Speaker Mike Johnson ended the congressional session a day early to prevent a vote on the Epstein files. He did the same during the government shutdown in October and November, refusing to swear in the 218th vote until the government reopened.
August 20, 2025: A federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s request to release Epstein grand jury records as a “diversion.”
August 22, 2025: Trump stated he supported the Justice Department sending Epstein files to the House Oversight Committee, saying “I’m keeping it totally open.” He called the Epstein matter a “Democrat hoax.”
August 25, 2025: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed the Epstein estate for additional records.
September 2, 2025: On the first day back from August recess, Rep. Thomas Massie filed a discharge petition to force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files. A discharge petition requires 218 signatures to bypass House leadership. Epstein accusers and survivors rallied at the U.S. Capitol in support.
September 2, 2025: The House Oversight Committee released 33,000 pages of Epstein-related documents provided by the DOJ, though most were already publicly available.
September 7, 2025: The Oversight Committee released additional records provided by the Epstein estate.
September-October 2025: The discharge petition slowly gained signatures. Four Republicans joined the effort: Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Nancy Mace (R-SC).
Early November: Trump administration officials Bondi, Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel met with Boebert in an attempt to get her to remove her signature from the discharge petition. She refused.
November 11, 2025: Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was sworn in and became the 218th signature on the discharge petition, triggering the procedural process to force a House vote. Speaker Johnson announced the House would vote on the bill the following week.
November 11-12, 2025: House Democrats on the Oversight Committee released new Epstein emails referencing Trump. The emails showed Epstein telling Ghislaine Maxwell that an alleged victim “spent hours at my house with him” (referring to Trump), and that Trump “knew about the girls.” Republicans identified the alleged victim as Virginia Giuffre, who had never accused Trump of wrongdoing. The GOP-led Oversight Committee then released an additional 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate.
November 13, 2025: Trump responded on Truth Social, calling the controversy an “Epstein Hoax” and announcing he would direct Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to “Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions.” Bondi confirmed she would launch the investigation, assigning U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead it.
November 14-15, 2025: Facing inevitable defeat, Trump reversed course.
In a Truth Social post on November 15, he wrote: “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.” He added, “I DON’T CARE!” about the House Oversight Committee having access to the files.
November 15-16, 2025: Massie predicted “100 or more” House Republicans would vote for release, while Rep. Ro Khanna estimated 40-50 Republican votes. House GOP leadership expected mass defections. Speaker Johnson downplayed the measure as “totally moot” and a “political exercise,” noting the Oversight Committee had already released more documents.
Week of November 17, 2025: The House was scheduled to vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. If passed, the bill would still require Senate approval and Trump’s signature to become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had not committed to bringing it to a vote.
Trump’s public reversal on releasing the Epstein files masks a fundamental contradiction that could determine whether the documents ever become public. Even as Trump called for the release, multiple sources confirmed he remains expected to veto any bill passed by Congress. For the bill to become law without presidential approval, both the House and Senate would need to pass it with a two-thirds supermajority.
However, Trump created another obstacle in the release of the Epstein files last week when he directed Attorney General Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to Clinton, Summers, Hoffman, and JPMorgan Chase, As Rep. Thomas Massie explicitly warned on ABC’s “This Week” on November 16, “If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released. So, this might be a big smokescreen… as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files.”
ederal law allows documents to remain sealed during active investigations, providing legal cover for refusing disclosure even if Congress passes legislation demanding it. By launching an investigation into Democratic figures with alleged Epstein connections, Trump created both a legal mechanism to obstruct release and a political distraction to shift focus from his own name in the files.
