House Republicans abruptly halted a vote to release Jeffrey Epstein's files on July 23, escalating a political clash over transparency – even as former President Donald Trump reversed course and demanded disclosure.
The move followed shortly after Democrats said they planned to stage a last-minute vote to subpoena the Department of Justice for its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
However, the Republican-led House subcommittee sidestepped the motion.
First, Rep Clay Higgins, the chair of the subcommittee, suspended the motion until the end of the hearing.
Then, as the time drew clearer to hold a vote on a motion that has caused a fracture in the Republican ranks, Higgins abruptly recessed the hearing.
The House now heads into its five-week summer recess without having resolved the matter, and pressure is mounting from both Democrats and dissenting Republicans to force action – setting up a potential showdown in the months ahead.
The GOP's blocking of the vote intensifies a long-simmering debate: Why are Epstein's secrets still hidden -- and who benefits?
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday that Democrats were playing "political games" by trying to force votes on measures that would require the US Department of Justice to release documents relating to the disgraced financier.
He accused Democrats of using the Epstein case as a "political battering ram".
However, several Republican House members have also called for the so-called Epstein files to be made public, with some of the loudest voices in Trump's MAGA movement demanding greater transparency.
Who is Jeffrey Epstein?
Before becoming the central figure in one of the highest-profile sex trafficking cases in history, one that implicated the likes of US presidents and British royalty, Jeffrey Epstein was a financier, power-broker and socialite in New York City.
He courted the rich and famous with lavish parties and rides on his private jets and treated them to forays to his personal island, Little Saint James, which became inextricably linked to his sex-trafficking ring, one that often victimised underage girls.
In 2005, the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. However, he avoided federal charges and instead received an 18-month prison sentence.
In July 2019, he was arrested in New York on sex trafficking charges, accused of running "a vast network" of underage girls for sex.
He died in prison the next month, with the official line being death by suicide.
From demanding full investigation to blasting 'Epstein obsession': How Trump flip-flopped
The stand-off follows Trump's sudden July 18 order for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all grand jury testimony in Jeffrey Epstein's case – a reversal after years of downplaying the case.
In August 2019, after Epstein's death, Trump retweeted a post that alleged Bill Clinton was connected to Epstein's death.
When asked about it in an interview, Trump said, "What we're saying is we want an investigation. I want a full investigation, and that's what I absolutely am demanding. That's what our attorney general -- our great attorney general -- is doing."
The attorney general at the time was Bill Barr.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to declassify Epstein files, including the much-anticipated "client list".
But although many of the president's supporters hoped that the release would implicate other high-profile figures or undercut the notion that Epstein killed himself, efforts have stalled.
However, the criticism that this revelation drew prompted Trump to take action. On July 18, he wrote, "Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to court approval," he said on June 18.
The moment marked a remarkable development, especially as Trump was calling on his MAGA base to end their 'Epstein obsession' only five days prior.
Trump's latest directive comes after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case, especially in light of the DOJ and FBI concluding that Epstein did not have a so-called "client list" that could implicate high-profile associates. It also claimed that his death was indeed by suicide.
Moreover, on July 15, Republican lawmakers had blocked a move that could have forced the administration to release the files on Epstein's death and investigation, as all but one of the GOP members voted against a Democratic move that would have allowed Congress to vote on whether the files should be made public.
It is an issue the president himself has flip-flopped on for a while. After using the "Epstein files" to rouse his supporters on the campaign trail, Trump has since termed it a conspiracy dreamt up by Democrats.
In a social media post on July 16, Trump blamed the Epstein controversy on "radical left Democrats".
He also took a shot at his own supporters, writing, "My PAST supporters have bought into this hook, line, and sinker," he wrote. "They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will."
In a social media post two days later, Trump said: "If there was a "smoking gun" on Epstein, why didn't the Dems, who controlled the "files" for four years, use it? BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!"
Epstein's death: Suicide or something more sinister?
On August 10 that same year, while awaiting trial in a federal criminal case, Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Centre and later pronounced dead.
The mysterious circumstances of his death sparked widespread criticism, as many believe he was murdered to cover up his ties with many wealthy and high-profile people, alleged to be his clients.
US President Trump himself stoked these beliefs as he shared a tweet from the rightwing comedian Terrence Williams, which claimed Bill and Hillary Clinton were involved in Epstein's death.
As voices grew louder, the DOJ on July 7 decided to release video footage from inside the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York from the night authorities say Epstein killed himself.
The DOJ described the footage it released on Monday as the "full, raw" surveillance video from a camera near Epstein's prison cell. However, video forensics experts have been quoted by various US outlets as saying that the clip was likely "assembled from at least two source clips" and "modified" prior to its release.
Investigations also reveal that the clip was missing up to three minutes of footage, an issue that Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly attributed to the outdated recording system at the facility.
A 15-year alliance: The Trump-Epstein connection
The friendship between Epstein and US President Trump, dating back to the 80s, is well-documented.
"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump told New York magazine in 2002. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
Throughout those years, they were spotted together at social gatherings and events.
Moreover, Trump's name appeared seven times in Epstein's flight logs over that period.
The president has acknowledged travelling on Epstein's plane, but insisted he never accompanied him to his private island or engaged in any unlawful activity with the sex offender.
Two years after Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy", the two men fell out over a property dispute over a Palm Beach mansion.
There is little public record of the two men interacting after that real estate battle.
Trump would later say in 2019 that he and Epstein had a "falling out" and hadn't spoken in 15 years, declaring himself "not a fan" of his former friend.
How did we get here?
While campaigning for the presidency, Donald Trump promised to disclose as yet unreleased files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, after conspiracy theories about them swirled online for years.
Since Trump's return to office in January, some supporters have grown frustrated with his administration's handling of this pledge.
Here is how we got here:
21 February: Attorney General Pam Bondi tells Fox News that a list of Epstein's clients is "sitting on my desk right now". The White House later said she was referring to all the files related to Epstein's crimes.
28 February: Bondi accuses federal investigators of withholding thousands of documents related to Epstein and asks the FBI to release all the information.
26 April: Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein of sexual assault, dies by suicide aged 41, her family says.
6 June: Tech billionaire Elon Musk posts on X that Trump is "in the Epstein files", referring to court documents and evidence thought to have been collected by investigators. The White House rubbishes the post, which Musk deletes.
7 July: The US Department of Justice and FBI conclude in a report that Epstein did not have a so-called client list that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life – contradicting long-held conspiracy theories.
17 July: Trump asks Bondi to release "any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony" on Jeffrey Epstein, after what he calls a "ridiculous amount of publicity".
19 July: Trump files a $10bn lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company, Dow Jones and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, over allegations that he penned a "bawdy" note to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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