President Donald Trump on Wednesday solid the Jeffrey Epstein controversy as “irrelevant” amid an effort on Capitol Hill to pressure a vote to launch all recordsdata associated to the deceased intercourse offender.
“This can be a Democrat hoax that by no means ends,” Trump instructed reporters within the Oval Workplace when requested concerning the push for extra transparency within the Epstein matter.
“From what I perceive, I may test, however from what I perceive, 1000’s of pages of paperwork have been given,” the president mentioned. “However it’s actually a Democrat hoax as a result of they’re making an attempt to get folks to speak about one thing that is completely irrelevant to the success that we have had as a nation since I have been president.”
The feedback got here as a group of survivors joined Home members in a push to compel the Justice Division to launch data to this point withheld from Congress.
ABC Information Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O’Brien requested the victims for his or her response to Trump’s characterization that it’s a “hoax.”
President Donald Trump speaks throughout a gathering with Polish President Karol Nawrocki within the Oval Workplace of the White Home, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
One survivor, Haley Robson, mentioned it felt like “being gutted from the within out.”
“Mr. President Donald J. Trump, I’m a registered Republican — not that that issues as a result of this isn’t political — nevertheless, I cordially invite you to fulfill me within the Capitol in individual so you’ll be able to perceive this isn’t a hoax. We’re actual human beings. That is actual trauma,” she responded.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s effort to pressure a vote on the recordsdata has led to a showdown with Home Republican management and the White Home.
Massie’s discharge petition had 206 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. It wants 218 to compel a vote on the Home ground.
Thus far, 4 Republicans have signed on to the Massie and Khanna discharge petition — a procedural software to bypass GOP management and pressure a vote. These signers embrace Massie, Reps. Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. If all 212 Democrats signal the petition, solely two extra Republicans are wanted.
Rep. Thomas Massie speaks throughout a press convention to debate the Epstein Information Transparency invoice on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 3, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republicans to not help Massie’s discharge petition throughout a closed convention assembly Wednesday morning, in accordance with a number of sources. Johnson as an alternative argued the continued investigation by the Home Oversight Committee is the higher path ahead.
The Home on Wednesday adopted a decision by a vote of 212-208-1 that instructs the Oversight Committee to proceed its Epstein investigation that started weeks in the past.
The measure was Johnson’s most well-liked vote on the Epstein controversy. Massie has referred to as it a “placebo.”
Johnson mentioned he spoke to Trump concerning the Epstein recordsdata on Tuesday evening, and Trump instructed him to “get it on the market” and “put all of it on the market.”
“That is going to be an ongoing effort. It is going to be bipartisan, which is nice and the Oversight Committee’s effort, that is actually vital to level out, goes additional than the discharge petition,” Johnson argued. “It requests extra info than the discharge even encompasses. For instance, the Epstein property paperwork, which is a treasure trove of knowledge not referenced within the discharge. And it has the pressure of regulation as a result of we’ve subpoena authorities.”
Johnson mentioned that Massie’s discharge petition is “irrelevant and pointless.” The speaker mentioned he believed the Oversight panel will “uncover issues which have by no means been uncovered earlier than.”
Home Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media after assembly with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, on the US Capitol, Washington September 2, 2025.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures
When requested by ABC Information concerning the Epstein survivors who mentioned on Wednesday they do not really feel sufficient is being completed, Johnson mentioned he believed they have been being “misled” by Republican members who Johnson accused of “politicizing” the Epstein difficulty.
“I feel they’ve been misled, and I stay up for assembly with them on the earliest alternative, as a result of I am going to share with them what I shared with the women who have been right here yesterday. We’re 100% centered on this. We’ll comply with the reality wherever it leads, and we’ll do it as shortly as potential,” Johnson mentioned.
The Home Oversight Committee launched tens of 1000’s of pages associated to Epstein on Tuesday evening, however a lot of the knowledge launched was already publicly accessible.
“Lower than 1% of those recordsdata have been launched,” Khanna mentioned at Wednesday’s information convention. “We’re demanding right this moment, on the discharge petition, that all the recordsdata be launched.”
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and little one intercourse trafficking. He died in custody a month later, whereas awaiting trial. His demise was dominated a suicide by hanging.
