Bang in Washington: On Sunday evening there was US President Donald Trump surprisingly his attempts to stop his Republican party colleagues in the House of Representatives. Several dozen Republicans in Congress, like the Democrats, want to have files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein released. Trump therefore made a sudden about-face: He now says that the Republican representatives should vote for the vote – and thus the green light for them Release of files give.
Already for this week the vote fixed – and it had become an unprecedented one Showdown between Republicans and the President developed. So far, Trump has had a firm grip on the party since the start of his second term in January. There were no dissenters and criticism of Trump was suppressed. Anyone who dared to question the president and his decisions was threatened with having their Republican support withdrawn.
But then he came Epstein-Scandal and the dispute over the disclosure of all files that could endanger Trump.
All of Trump’s resistance was of no use, and for the first time the Republicans did not follow suit sufficiently: it was expected that dozens of Republican members of the House of Representatives would break with the President as soon as the bill came to a vote. It was already clear last week that the required majority of 218 votes would be achieved in the House of Representatives.
A possible embarrassment
Trump had to make a volte of necessity – and such a possible one Blamage for the White House. “House Republicans should vote to declassify the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide and it is time to put this Democratic hoax behind us,” Trump wrote on social media.
What looks like a rather desperate forward defense by the US President has primarily to do with the outrage of his voter base. Because his MAGA voters in particular are insisting that the files be published and all the background to the scandal be disclosed. During the election campaign, Trump had promised that everything would be put on the table – but as soon as he was in office, there was no more talk of it – until now. The pressure from voters on conservative MPs and senators became so great that they began to assess: would they lose Trump’s support or lose their voters’ support? And at least several dozen preferred to rely on their voters.
Trump and Epstein had friendly contact in the 1990s and early 2000s. But Trump said he had severed ties long before Epstein’s first arrest in 2006. The millionaire financial investor pleaded guilty in 2008 to inciting a minor to engage in prostitution. Epstein died in prison in 2019 after being arrested a second time and charged with sex trafficking conspiracy.
intimidation
The vote by Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Democratic Representative Ro Khanna from California, which had been sought for months, should oblige all members of the House of Representatives to comment. Green, previously an ardent supporter of Trump, had incurred the president’s unbridled anger with her efforts. She complained that Trump was trying to intimidate Republicans in the run-up to the vote.
“He is going after me with all his might to make an example and intimidate all other Republicans,” Greene wrote on X on Friday. In an interview on CNN, Greene asked why Trump and other Republicans were resisting calls to release the Epstein files. “That’s the question everyone is asking: Why are they fighting this so vehemently?” she said.
If the bill passes the House, it goes to the Senate. After the Senate’s approval, Trump also has to sign – and then all 20,000 pages of the Epstein file will be disclosed.