Epstein offers an expected vote in the House on Tuesday after Trump’s surprise U-turn

Jeff Bennett:

Welcome to the News Hour.

The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release its files in the case of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after an apparent U-turn from the White House.

Amna Nawaz:

President Trump is now urging his party to move forward with the vote after a few key Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage.

Lisa Desjardins:

Last night from President Trump, mixed reactions and news about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. On the runway he refused to answer.

President Donald Trump:

Fake news, like you, keeps bringing it up to distract from the tremendous success of the Trump administration.

Lisa Desjardins:

But on social media, Trump wrote that House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files held by the Justice Department, declaring: “We have nothing to hide.”

Then he was asked today, would he sign the Epstein dossier bill if it passed?

Donald Trump:

I definitely will. Let the Senate look into it, and let anyone look at it. But don’t talk about it too much, because frankly I don’t want to take it from us.

Lisa Desjardins:

This position represents a reversal, after weeks of intense arm-twisting work by the White House to prevent the bill from passing, because four House Republicans joined Democrats in a so-called recall petition to force that vote.

Now one of them, former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, has become a target of Trump. The president withdrew his endorsement of her in a TRUTH Social post late last week, saying she complains too much. In recent weeks, Greene has split with Trump and GOP leaders over more issues, including health care subsidies and the handling of the government shutdown, which ended up being the longest in American history.

The Georgia congresswoman was once one of the president’s staunchest allies on the campaign trail.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia):

We have once again nominated for President the founding father of the America First movement, Donald John Trump.

(acclaim)

Lisa Desjardins:

And in the Capitol, where she wore a Trump hat on the House floor and famously had it on her cell phone during the 2023 GOP presidential fiasco.

But Trump is now attacking her sharply, as he does his enemy.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene:

Unfortunately, it all ended up in Epstein’s files.

Lisa Desjardins:

Actor Green appeared on CNN yesterday. She reiterated her call for transparency. She published and said that Trump’s words sparked major new threats against her.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene:

The most hurtful thing he said, which was completely untrue, was that he called me a traitor. This is very wrong, and these are the types of words used that could radicalize people against me and put my life in danger.

Lisa Desjardins:

The President was asked about that last night.

Donald Trump:

Her life is in danger? who’s that?

a question:

Marjorie Taylor Greene says…

Donald Trump:

Marjorie “The Traitor” Green. I don’t think her life is in danger. I don’t think – honestly, I don’t think anyone cares about it.

Lisa Desjardins:

This is where the voices of those affected by Epstein reach a new scale.

woman:

It’s time to bring secrets out of the shadows. It’s time to shine light on the darkness.

Lisa Desjardins:

Over the weekend, several survivors of Epstein’s abuse issued a public service announcement demanding that Congress release all files.

Adding to the headlines, a congressional committee released a trove of Epstein’s emails last week, in which Trump was cited as having known about the “girls.” The White House has insisted he did nothing wrong, and the president has long dismissed the controversy as a smear campaign.

But support for publishing the files is growing and the full House could vote tomorrow.

And in the last few minutes, Speaker Johnson and his office have confirmed to me that a vote is now expected in the House tomorrow. Also tomorrow, Epstein’s survivors plan to hold a press conference on Capitol Hill – safe.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, like I said, it was a 180 by the boss. We don’t see that often from President Trump. How will this reversal affect the House’s expected vote on releasing the files tomorrow?

Lisa Desjardins:

Well, I think that’s an acknowledgment of the situation in the House. This was going to pass.

Thomas Massie, the Republican sponsor of the impeachment petition, felt he could get two-thirds of the vote to overtake the president. So this is kind of a fait accompli that the president acknowledges here, but now it’s easier for Republicans to sign it.

She wonders whether this bill might receive near-unanimous approval, which was not at all what we expected in the House of Representatives while voting on it.

Amna Nawaz:

Home is one thing. The Senate is different, you know. What does this look like in the Senate?

Lisa Desjardins:

Well, while working and speaking with Majority Leader John Thune’s office today, they said they’re waiting for the House to figure out their timing. But I have to tell you, as I talked to Republican senators, they were uncomfortable because they also wanted this to pass generally.

I think that’s also on the glide path there. So the important factor is that once the Senate votes, it then goes to the president, who, as you heard just today, said he would sign it.

Now, this bill means that within 15 days, these files will not be released. In this timetable, he demands, within two weeks, the release of the files.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, we’ve seen the president now force an investigation into Democrats linked to Jeffrey Epstein, including former President Clinton. What do we know about it? How does this affect this?

Lisa Desjardins:

And that’s something that prosecutors, particularly former prosecutors, pay attention to, because there’s a possibility that the Department of Justice could say, we can’t release these files because there’s an ongoing investigation.

This is something the bill itself allows. So we’re watching to see if that’s what might happen here. But regardless of all that, at the same time, President Trump has the ability to reveal these files now.

We spoke to former prosecutor Jessica Roth about this.

Jessica Roth, former federal prosecutor:

Historically, presidents have not been involved in such decisions by the Justice Department about which files to disclose.

But given that this President has involved himself in a very direct way in the decisions made by the Department of Justice, the question arises as to why he chose not to exercise that kind of direct control over the decision-making process at the Department of Justice in this particular context.

Lisa Desjardins:

Trump is bringing this matter to Congress, even though he himself has some of this authority.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, I have to ask about Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes.

Amna Nawaz:

I’ve been covering her since she entered Congress. What should we understand about her breakup with the president?

Lisa Desjardins:

This is quite a wild break. I think this tells us that defining MAGA is not something anyone other than Trump can do right now.

She obviously broke up with him, but I’ll tell you, I’ve noticed in the last day that she hasn’t posted anything on social media. For all her open rebellion against him in the past few days and weeks, she was silent now.

Meanwhile, it’s interesting how Democrats view all of this. They believe the Epstein files ultimately show weakness for Trump, which is perhaps why he resisted them so much. Whatever is said about him, they believe it indicates that he has some kind of corrupt tendency. They may be able to bring that up in the next campaign.

However, I think everyone agrees that the economy will remain front and center next year.

Amna Nawaz:

Always him.

Lisa Desjardins with an update, thank you.

Lisa Desjardins:

You’re welcome.