Trump Claims Credit for Epstein Files Release as He Finally Signs Bill
The president tried to claim credit for the Epstein files bill after signing it into law, despite having previously worked to sink it.
Davidoff Studios Photography/Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
Donald Trump tried to paint himself as the driving force behind the Jeffrey Epstein files’ release in a bonkers Truth Social post on Wednesday evening.
The president announced that he had signed the bill to release all files related to the convicted sex trafficker at 8:20 p.m., two hours after the White House called a lid on all public events.
Trump had spent months trying to derail the bill, but made an extraordinary U-turn over the weekend when its passage became inevitable.
“...I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES! As everyone knows, I asked Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, to pass this Bill in the House and Senate, respectively. Because of this request, the votes were almost unanimous in favor of passage,” Trump wrote.
The 79-year-old president fails to mention that he had worked to tank the legislation until last week, reportedly calling up GOP rebels in a last-ditch attempt to get them to pull their support.
Trump announced Wednesday night he had signed the bill to release the Justice Department's and FBI's files on Jeffrey Epstein.
Truth Social
Some Democrats and Republicans have warned that the Trump administration may not make all documents public, since the bill gives Attorney General Pam Bondi broad leeway on what information would be redacted.
Truth Social
Trump, whose own name has appeared in the files, has long dismissed the controversy surrounding the push to release the documents as a Democratic “hoax.”
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The one-time friend of Epstein repeated the line on Wednesday, burying his announcement in a barrage of attacks on Democrats.
“Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged by the Trump Justice Department in 2019 (Not the Democrats!), was a lifelong Democrat, donated Thousands of Dollars to Democrat Politicians, and was deeply associated with many well-known Democrat figures, such as Bill Clinton (who traveled on his plane 26 times), Larry Summers (who just resigned from many Boards, including Harvard), Sleazebag Political Activist Reid Hoffman, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (who asked Epstein to donate to his Campaign AFTER Epstein was charged), Democrat Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, and many more,” he wrote.
Trump noted that the Justice Department had already made public thousands of pages on Epstein, even though that release came only after his administration sparked uproar by trying to shut the case in July.
He claimed that Democrats have “used the ‘Epstein’ issue ... in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories, including THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TAX CUT BILL, Strong Borders, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for Everyone, ending DEI, stopping Biden’s Record Setting Inflation, lowering Prices, Biggest Tax and Regulation Cuts in History, ending EIGHT Wars, rebuilding our Military, knocking out Iran’s Nuclear capability, getting Trillions of Dollars INVESTED in the U.S.A., creating the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World, and even delivering a HUGE DEFEAT to the Democrats on the recent Shutdown Disaster.”
President Donald Trump often stages bill signings for the cameras, yet he signed the Epstein files bill out of public view.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“For years our Great Nation has had to endure RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, IMPEACHMENT HOAX #1, IMPEACHMENT HOAX #2, and many other Democrat created Witch Hunts and Scams,” Trump said, arguing that Democrats had tried to “distract from the GREAT JOB that Republicans, and the Trump Administration, are doing.”
Trump has largely stayed silent on his own relationship with Epstein, which came under renewed scrutiny last week when explosive emails released revealed Trump may have known more about Epstein’s conduct than he has acknowledged.
Some Democrats and Republicans have warned that the Trump administration may not make all documents public, since the bill gives Attorney General Pam Bondi broad leeway on what information would be redacted.
The bill allows the Justice Department to withhold information if it “would jeopardize an active federal investigation.” Conveniently, Bondi last week said she would launch investigations into Democrats who were once associated with the convicted child sex offender.
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