New York, Nov 17 (IANS) Facing a rising revolt in the Republican Party, US President Donald Trump has reversed course very publicly on one of his hardline positions, telling the party members of Congress to vote for the release of files relating to a convicted billionaire pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
After threatening members of his party who wanted the files opened to Congress and even calling one of them “a traitor”, Trump said on Sunday, “We have nothing to hide”, and told his party’s legislators to go ahead with the vote set for Tuesday.
This was the second time in a week that Trump was retreating: On Friday, he scrapped tariffs on a range of food products, including tea, mango, and cashew nuts from India, because the rising prices were fuelling opposition.
Epstein was at the intersection of sex, politics, big money and high society, where many important people were involved with him either for business or pleasure.
His company managed assets of billionaire clients, and he was sometimes a business networker.
He was convicted in Florida of procuring children for prostitution, and while facing a federal trial on charges of trafficking minors for sex, he was found dead in a New York jail cell, and officials declared it a suicide.
Ghislane Maxwell, his partner and procurer, who is the daughter of the late British media baron Robert Maxwell, is in prison after being convicted of complicity in his crimes.
Epstein’s web of crime has claimed Britain’s former Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his title and thrown out of his royal digs by King Charles after his alleged rape of children while Epstein’s guest.
Some from his trove of emails have been released by the Democrats and other sources that show many important people in contact with him.
The first sustained calls for the release of all the documents relating to Epstein came from the hardliners in Trump’s base of support, and it was picked up by Democrats who pushed for legislation in Congress to release them.
The Republicans expect the disclosures to snare prominent Democrats and their supporters, while Democrats hope there will be materials to embarrass Trump.
Congressmen Ro Khanna, a Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Republican, have introduced legislation to open up the entire Epstein documentation that is up for a vote on Tuesday.
Speaker Mike Johnson tried to delay the vote, but finally had to give in after enough Representatives signed on to the demand.
Trump denounced the proposed legislation and dramatically broke with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of his staunchest supporters pushing for the release of the files, repeatedly calling her a traitor.
Initially, Trump tried to divert attention away from the controversy by asking the Justice Department to investigate possible links of former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and JPMorgan Chase financial giant, to Epstein.
But on Sunday, when it appeared that enough Republican members of Congress would defy him and vote for it, he tried to douse the revolt that could signal his hold on the base slipping.
Earlier on Sunday, Khanna told an NBC TV interviewer that Trump was losing his base.
“He’s forgotten those forgotten Americans,” he said.
He also clarified, “It’s not about Donald Trump. I don’t even know how involved Trump was. There are a lot of other people who are involved who have to be held accountable.”
Trump’s opposition to the release of all the documents, which include the probe into Epstein’s case and his death, was surprising because during the 2024 campaign, he had called for opening them up.
Taylor Moore speculated that a foreign government could be pressuring Trump against the release.
Others speculated that it was because the documents could expose many prominent people.
Trump, who, like the New York business elite, had been in touch with Epstein, said he broke off over disputes the pervert was trying to recruit his employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
He also said he threw Epstein out of his membership in the resort.
Trump said that he was unaware of Epstein trafficking children, but an email released has Epstein claiming Trump knew about it, telling them to stop it.
However, in an email to a journalist, he said that Trump never got a “massage”.
One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, who implicated the former British prince and later committed suicide, said that Trump wasn’t involved in the sex shenanigans.
–IANS
al/uk
