Two prominent House committee chairs said they planned to support the bill compelling the release of materials related to the late convicted sex offender, and GOP leaders are exploring whether to advance the measure under special fast-track rules later this week.
When you’re getting run out of town, jump in front and call it a parade. https://t.co/YzSX5n0FgA
— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) November 17, 2025
That is Trump's M.O. Recall that in in 2022
Former President Donald Trump on the eve of the Missouri primaries gave his much-coveted endorsement in the Republican primary for Missouri's open Senate seat, but there was some confusion about who had been selected.
"I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!" Trump wrote in a statement Monday night.
And with that, Trump apparently rejected anyone in the field of 19 who is not named Eric. There are two leading candidates who share the first name: Attorney General Eric Schmitt and former Attorney General Eric Greitens, and one candidate trailing them.
(Eric won.)
Cillizza fears, realistically, that (emphasis his) "even if he signs this into law and says "the Department of Justice needs to release all its files on the Epstein investigation, I think the DOJ could come back and say "well, we're in the midst of some ongoing investigations- we can't release all that stuff."
Unfortunately, there probably is another, more sinister and dangerous, reason, first divulged by Illinois senator Dick Durbin. The Times of India reports
An old report has brought back a question Donald Trump's team hoped would disappear: did the FBI work through the night to remove his name from the Jeffrey Epstein files before saying there was nothing left to release? The timing is important as Trump has suddenly reversed his stance on making the documents public.
Trump announced on Truth Social: "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide." It marked a sudden U-turn after months of resisting pressure from both parties. His shift only came once it became clear that the house was preparing to move forward without him.
The move was surprising given that Trump had previously dismissed the Epstein issue as a Democratic "hoax" despite having campaigned on transparency in 2024. Bloomberg reported in August this year that an FBI FOIA team had already blacked out Trump's name from the documents during an exhaustive internal review.
Sources familiar with the process told Bloomberg "We know from news reports that Trump's name was in the Epstein files. But what hasn't been reported is that an FBI FOIA team redacted Trump's name and the names of other prominent public figures from the documents."
The review involved up to 1,0000 FBI agents and staff working through more than 100,0000 documents.
The White House referred questions about the redactions to the FBI. The FBI declined to comment and the Justice Department offered no response. In July, DOJ and the FBI said they had collected more than 300 gigabytes of Epstein-related evidence but concluded that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."
In a fitting choice of words, the publication observes "downplaying the gravity of the situation, Trump has now pivoted...."
As is the case with most organizations and individuals, public officials need to be nimble and there is no one more skilled than Donald Trump at pivoting from one side to the other and back again. Democrats must adjust to the new reality that the files, in one manner or another, are likely to be released.
Presumably, there will be little mention of Donald Trump other than to highlight his unequaled humility, manly dedication to women and girls, and existential greatness. How Democrats respond to the release and their contents may define the remainder of President Trump's second term. They need to devise a strategy to address the false narrative which will be depicted because, whether the impact is direct or indirect, nothing less than democracy's future is at stake.
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