Trump slams Republicans pushing for Epstein Files as 'stupid people'

President Donald Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans who have been calling for his administration to release documents related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, casting the files as a distraction spun up by Democrats to undermine his agenda. 

“It’s all been a big hoax. It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans, and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats’ work,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday as he met with Bahrain’s crown prince at the White House. 

Trump’s comments followed a social media post earlier in the day in which he cast the clamor for documents related to Epstein as a “new SCAM” and expressed dismay that “PAST supporters” had bought into it “hook, line and sinker.”  

 

“I don’t want their support anymore!” Trump had written. 

Asked by a reporter if Attorney General Pam Bondi had told him the issue was a hoax and what evidence he had seen that supported his claim, Trump offered no justification, insisting that “I know it’s a hoax.” 

“Instead of talking about the things we’ve achieved — we’ve had tremendous achievement — they’re wasting their time with a guy who obviously had some very serious problems, who died three, four years ago. I’d rather talk about the success we have with the economy, the best we’ve ever had, and all of the things we’ve done,” he said. “The sad part is it’s people that are really doing the Democrats’ work. They’re stupid people.” 

The Epstein case has long been a focus of Trump’s supporters and spurred numerous conspiracy theories about the deceased sex offender’s associates and his death — and a fervor for the administration to release any documents pertaining to him that the government may hold. 

Trump’s comments on Wednesday highlighted the growing rift among Republicans over the documents and comes as top allies of the president in Congress have urged that his administration show greater transparency after the Justice Department asserted that there was no additional information on the Epstein case to release. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a staunch Trump loyalist, told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that Bondi should “come forward and explain” the Justice Department’s decision. 

The DOJ’s declaration sparked a furious reaction from many of Trump’s supporters. Bondi earlier this year had told Fox News in an interview that an Epstein client list was sitting on her desk awaiting review. The attorney general has sought to explain those comments, suggesting that she was referring to the Epstein files generally and not a specific client list. 

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has said he would file a discharge petition that could force a vote on releasing files related to the deceased sex offender. Congressional Democrats have also seized on the uproar and sought to force Republicans into a vote on the issue earlier this week. 

Trump has defended Bondi even as he has sought to tamp down on the calls for officials to release more documents. The president said on Tuesday that he did not understand “why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.” 

“It’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going, I think, well, really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going,” Trump said. 

Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges, including the procurement of minors to engage in prostitution. He died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. A medical examiner and investigation by the FBI determined that he had died by suicide.