US President Donald Trump has called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to vote for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party.”
Members of the US Congress will this week vote on whether to publish unclassified documents linked to a sex trafficking probe into late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Protesters outside the White House call for the remaining Epstein files to be released. (Reuters: Elizabeth Frantz)
Trump’s Epstein reversal
It is a startling reversal, with Mr Trump previously fighting the proposal.
What we know about Donald Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
The US president, a one-time friend of Epstein, has been criticised by Democrats and some fellow Republicans over his handling of the files.
Democrats and some Republicans have been pushing a measure that would force the Justice Department to make public more documents from the case.
The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass the House of Representatives, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.
Lawmakers who support the bill have been predicting a big win in the House this week with a “deluge of Republicans” voting for it.
Republican member of Congress Thomas Massie has told American broadcaster ABC it is a no-brainer.
“In 2030, he’s not going to be the president, and you will have voted to protect paedophiles if you don’t vote to release these files, and the president can’t protect you then,” he said.
“The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency.”
ABC/AP