The Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives will send members of Congress home early to avoid a vote on releasing files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, as Donald Trump’s allies seek to contain a spiralling crisis over the administration’s handling of the case.
The House of Representatives is set to be in recess from Wednesday for five weeks, a day earlier than scheduled, and is not expected to return until September.
Mr Johnson said on Tuesday that Democrats were playing “political games” by trying to force votes on measures that would require the US Department of Justice to release documents relating to the life and death of the disgraced financier.
Several Republican House members have also called for the so-called “Epstein files” to be made public, as some of the loudest voices in Trump’s Maga movement have demanded greater transparency.
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A memo by the DoJ and FBI this month stated there was no “credible evidence” that the disgraced financier “blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions” and that an Epstein “client list” did not exist.
The furore was fuelled last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Trump had sent Epstein a birthday message in 2003 that referred to “secrets” and contained a lewd drawing. Mr Trump has since sued the newspaper and its owner Rupert Murdoch, alleging libel and demanding $10 billion in damages.
But as he moved for an early recess on Tuesday, Mr Johnson pinned the blame on the opposition, saying Democrats were using the Epstein case as a “political battering ram”.
“We’re not going to allow them to engage in that charade any more,” Mr Johnson said at a news conference. “We’re done being lectured on transparency.”
He complained about “endless efforts to politicise the Epstein investigation”. “We’re not going to play political games with this,” he said, wrapping up his final news conference before September.
After initially saying the material should come out, Mr Johnson on Monday vowed that he would not schedule a vote this summer on whether to release the Epstein files, saying that Mr Trump needed “space” to determine how to proceed.
On Tuesday he said Republicans were united on the issue.
Mr Johnson’s intervention came as Mr Trump and his allies seek to stamp out criticism of his administration’s handling of the Epstein case.
A top Department of Justice official earlier on Tuesday said he would meet Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted for helping lure underage girls for Epstein, for possible evidence.
“If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DoJ will hear what she has to say,” deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche said.
He said he had contacted the lawyer for Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence and intended “to meet with her soon”.
Mr Trump has repeatedly railed against public interest in the case in recent weeks. But asked about Mr Blanche’s intervention on Tuesday, Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “I didn’t know that they were going to do it. I don’t really follow that too much ... It’s a witch-hunt, just a continuation of a witch-hunt.”
Republicans had planned votes this week on an immigration measure, a permitting Bill and a rollback of some Biden-era regulations.
But the House Rules Committee, the powerful panel controlled by the speaker that determines which legislation reaches the floor, has been upended by the Epstein issue, with Democrats repeatedly demanding votes on it.
Democrats on the committee vowed to force such a vote again this week as part of a routine measure to allow debate on unrelated legislation. But Republicans did not want to go on the record on the matter, for fear of retribution from angry supporters who are demanding the release of the Epstein files.
The result is that the house cannot move ahead on any substantive legislation. Republicans now plan to wrap up votes on Tuesday and early Wednesday on some non-controversial Bills and call their recess by midafternoon on Wednesday.
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
