Donald Trump.
Credit: Reuters
In a reversal from a sustained pressure campaign, President Donald Trump on Sunday urged House Republicans to back a measure that would compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
Trump said on social media that House Republicans should vote to release the files "because we have nothing to hide."
"It's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat 'Shutdown,'" he wrote.
In a Sunday interview on ABC News, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has helped lead congressional efforts to release the files, suggested that "100 or more" House Republicans could vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files this week despite opposition from Trump. The House speaker also predicted a significant number of GOP votes.
Speaker Mike Johnson said last week he would move up the timeline for a vote on the bill to this week, and told "Fox News Sunday" that the House just needed to "get this done and move it on." He added in a similar vein to Trump, "There's nothing to hide."