WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Monday he would sign a bill to release all files relating to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein if it reaches his desk, marking a major reversal from just a few weeks ago.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he feels the controversy surrounding Epstein is distracting from his administration’s successes.
“Let the Senate look at it. Let anybody look at it. But don’t talk about it too much, because, honestly, I don’t want it to take away from us. It’s really a Democrat problem,” he said.
Pressed later if he would sign the bill that the House is set to take up Tuesday, Trump replied: “Sure, I would.”
The comments come after Trump’s sudden reversal on Sunday that House Republicans should vote yes on releasing the files, after his opposition to the measure.
Questions still remain as to whether the full files will be released, even with Trump’s public change in position.
If the bill passes the House, as is expected, it will still have to go through the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune has not said if he will hold a vote.
Trump on Monday repeated his claims that he believes the Epstein case is “a hoax”.
“It’s just a Russia, Russia, Russia hoax as it pertains to the Republicans. Now, I believe that many of the people that we, some of the people that we mentioned are being looked at very seriously for their relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, but they were with him all the time. I wasn’t. I wasn’t at all, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Democrats on Capitol Hill, after Trump’s reversal on the House vote, said he could act now to release the files himself.
“He’s telling the Congress to do it. I’m not sure what more he could do by way of transparency,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
