As the nation undergoes its longest government shutdown ever, Republicans are dealing with an additional explosive situation with unreleased documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to a former reporter, some GOP members of the House of Representatives have heard from contacts in the Department of Justice and the FBI that those files might be more harmful to President Donald Trump if released.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, former Fox News and MSNBC reporter David Shuster stated that “A few GOP house members say they’ve heard from FBI/DOJ contacts that the Epstein files (with copies in different agencies) are worse than Michael Wolff’s description of Epstein photos showingTrump with half naked teenage girls.” He went on to write that the revelation has led to wide speculation throughout the Republican caucus.
Shuster referenced an interview that Wolff had with The Daily Beast last month, where the biographer claimed that in a visit with Epstein, he had pulled “about a dozen Polaroid snapshots” out a safe showing him and Trump together. In those photos, Trump posed with several topless young women on his lap. Wolff stated that Epstein, who died while awaiting a federal trial in 2019, had wanted Wolff to write a book about his life and invited the author to his home.
In a followup post, Shuster detailed that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s refusal to answer a question under oath while before the Senate Judiciary Committee “spooked” some Republicans. Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked Bondi if she had seen the photos from Epstein’s safe that Wolff had mentioned. Instead of answering, she countered by asking Whitehouse about receiving donations from an Epstein associate, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
The fears are magnified by the fact that there are now over 100 Republicans in the House of Representatives who are reportedly willing to vote for a bipartisan discharge petition led by Representatives. Ro Khanna of California and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. The petition needs only one more vote to bring it to the necessary 218 that would bring it to a floor vote to release all the files. Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, a Democrat, has committed to be that vote but she has not been sworn in by House Majority Leader Mike Johnson.
