After years of promoting transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case, the Trump administration has more or less buried the files that stemmed from it.
This has energized some of Trump’s enemies on both sides of the aisle, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) just dropped a bombshell claim on everyone.
Johnson, however, may have initially overstated his claim, which forced him into cleanup mode this week.
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) have been getting significant mileage out of the Epstein files controversy.
Massie has been beefing with Trump, and he clearly saw the administration's lack of transparency about the files as a way to go after the president, and he found a willing accomplice across the aisle in Khanna.
Now, however, they sound much like Trump surrogates have over the last few years, saying that Americans will be “outraged” when they see the complete files.
Khanna stated, “My belief is, when the American people actually hear the victims for the first time, they are going to sympathize, their hearts are going to be broken, and all the victims are saying is for closure.”
For some mysterious reason, Trump suddenly wants these files to just go away, having stated, "This is a Democrat hoax that never ends.”
He continued, "From what I understand, I could check, but from what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given. But it's really a Democrat hoax because they're trying to get people to talk about something that's totally irrelevant to the success that we've had as a nation since I've been president."
I have stated several times that I don’t think there is anything in the files that will hurt Trump, but I do believe that some very high-profile individuals are implicated in them, and the president decided it was just better to leave the m atter buried than to wreck everyone’s life and possibly upend the government.
I am far from the only person who believes this, as MAGA has been very upset over the lack of transparency on these files, and even some of Trump’s most loyal members of Congress are demanding all the materials be released, not just the documents we have already seen.
With the Epstein files refusing to go away and Trump now taking attacks from his enemies who believe the information contained therein can hurt him, Johnson made the claim, "He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.”
Johnson was later forced to dial that down a bit, clarifying that Trump was helping investigators as much as he could because he was horrified by the case, saying that this effectively made Trump an “FBI informant.” Something tells me that Johnson may have only poured gasoline on a fire that was already burning out of control.
It is also worth noting that the alleged victims of Epstein, most of whom had applauded Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign, are now calling him out for not being fully transparent about the files. Brad Edwards, the attorney representing many of Epstein's victims, stated, "Now it seems like all of a sudden somebody is in his ear, and he's not.”
My reasoning for Trump keeping the files hidden is only speculation, but I don’t see any way around this right now for the president. He needs to release the files and just deal with whatever is in them. If he continues to push back, and the materials are eventually released are found to reveal damning information, it will not only hurt Trump, but it could also completely derail the GOP in both the 2026 and 2028 elections.
