US President Donald Trump has called on House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, in a reversal from his previous position.
House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday night.
The major shift in Trump's stance comes as potentially dozens of Republicans signalled they were willing to break ranks, and vote for the release of the documents.
The House is expected to vote this week on legislation that would compel the justice department to publicly release the files. Supporters of the bill appear to have enough votes for it to pass the House, though it is unclear whether it would pass the Senate.
Trump would also have to sign off on the release of the documents if it passes both chambers.
Both Democrats and some Republicans have been backing the legislation. Republican Representative Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday that as many as 100 Republicans could vote in favour.
Known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the aim of the bill is to make the justice department release all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump posted the statement shortly after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida.
Trump's reference to Clinton comes after the US justice department confirmed it will investigate paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein's alleged links to major banks and several prominent Democrats, including former US President Bill Clinton.
Trump's reversal comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published three email exchanges between Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Some of those exchanges make references to Trump. In one email, sent in 2011, Epstein writes to Maxwell: I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him.
Hours after the release of those exchanges, House Republicans released a larger tranche of 20,000 files to counter what they said was a Democratic effort to cherry-pick documents. They also said it was an attempt to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump.
In his comments, Trump repeated White House dismissals of the Epstein files as a Democrat-led hoax. This came after House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that a vote on releasing the documents would clarify any connections between Trump and Epstein's illegal activities.
Trump and Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fierce defender, have been publicly feuding over the files.
In a letter addressed to Congress, Epstein survivors urged lawmakers to vote in favor of releasing the files, reminding them of their duties to their constituents.
