Trump able to release Epstein files, with or without Congress

He doesn’t need discharge petition to order release of more materials from investigation

- Luke Broadwater

Facing intense political pressure, President Donald Trump has reversed his position on whether he supports a congressional measure that would compel the Justice Department to release more materials from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On Nov 17, Mr Trump said he would sign the Bill if it reached his desk.

But Mr Trump’s sudden reversal raises a question: If the President agrees that more investigative materials in the Epstein case should be released, why is he waiting for the passage of the so-called discharge petition to do so? Why doesn’t he immediately order Attorney-General Pam Bondi to make the documents public?

The fact is that if Mr Trump chooses to, he can indeed order more files released — with or without legislation - much as he did in other cases of intense public interest, including the killings of Martin Luther King Jr and president John F Kennedy.

WHY DOESN'T TRUMP RELEASE MORE DOCUMENTS?

Democrats have accused the President of trying to cover up embarrassing material by hiding files related to Epstein, his former friend who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while facing charges of sex trafficking minors.

But the White House contends that it has already made public tens of thousands of pages of documents tied to the Epstein investigation and that nothing will satisfy Mr Trump’s critics.

In February, Ms Bondi released a few hundred pages of documents in the Epstein case, including an evidence list, flight logs, a contact book and a heavily redacted masseuse list.

In September, House Republicans released more than 30,000 pages of documents provided to them by the Trump administration in response to a subpoena; and then another 20,000 last week from the Epstein estate.

“We've already given 50,000 pages,” Mr Trump complained on Nov 17, adding: “No matter what we give, it’s never enough.”