Mike Johnson signals break with Trump on Epstein
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 8. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday joined the chorus of Trump-friendly voices urging the administration to release files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The big picture: President Trump has urged his rattled base not to "waste [t]ime" over the case, but the Justice Department and FBI's conclusion that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 and had no "client list" has driven a wedge within the MAGA world.
- "He's dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don't understand what the interest or what the fascination is," Trump told reporters Tuesday when asked about his supporters' focus on the case, which he described as "pretty boring stuff."
- Democrats have swiftly seized on that rift, attempting to force their GOP colleagues to choose between the White House and its angry faithful.
- Republicans on Tuesday rejected a Democratic procedural maneuver aimed at forcing the DOJ to release Epstein-related documents, dismissing the effort as a partisan ploy.
Driving the news: Despite his party rejecting Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna's (Calif.) measure, Johnson told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson he's "for transparency" in an episode released Tuesday afternoon.
- "It's a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it," he said.
- Johnson added that Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump has defended as she becomes a main target of MAGA rage, "needs to come forward and explain" the confusion she created by claiming in an interview that a list of Epstein's clients was sitting on her desk.
What he's saying: "I'm anxious to get this behind us," Johnson added.
Yes, but: Bondi on Tuesday said, "Today our memo speaks for itself, and we will get back to you about anything else."
- David Schoen, a former attorney for Epstein, said on NewsNation's "Cuomo" Tuesday that he doesn't believe a "client list" exists, noting, "That wasn't Jeffrey Epstein."
Between the lines: Axios' Marc Caputo reports that the Trump administration is considering at least three ways to mitigate the backlash that's erupted over an issue of high importance to many in his base.
- But in the meantime, Democrats are turning up the volume on the Epstein mess and are promising future votes.
Zoom out: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), whose relationship with the president has long been contentious, announced Tuesday that he would launch an effort to use a long-shot procedural tool to bypass House leadership and force another vote on the matter.
- The discharge petition would require 218 lawmaker signatures.
- "We all deserve to know what's in the Epstein files, who's implicated, and how deep this corruption goes," Massie wrote on X. "Americans were promised justice and transparency."
- The resolution, cosponsored by Khanna, would require Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format" materials in possession of the DOJ (including the FBI and U.S. Attorneys' Offices) connected to Epstein within 30 days of the measure's enactment.
The bottom line: Even as Trump tries to quell the conversation about a man he described as "somebody that nobody cares about," the fallout is haunting the president's team, Axios' Marc Caputo reports.
- The divide is music to Democrats' ears — literally, in the case of Rep. Hank Johnson's (D-Ga.) musical plea to release the Epstein files — allowing them to lean into a "more is more" strategy of fighting back against Trump, per Axios' Andrew Solender.
- And even key Trump allies, like Johnson, don't seem to be harmonizing with the administration.
Go deeper: The Trump-Epstein question that put the White House "in a tizzy"
