United States President Donald Trump has urged his fellow Republicans in Congress to vote to release documents related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing his earlier resistance to such a move.
Trump's post on Truth Social came after House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier said he believed a vote on releasing Justice Department documents in the Epstein case should help dismiss allegations that Trump had any connection to Epstein's abuse and trafficking of underage girls, Reuters reports.
"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein documents, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote.
"And it's time to end this Democratic fraud being perpetrated by radical leftist fanatics to distract from the great success of the Republican Party, including our recent victory on the Democratic 'government shutdown.'"
Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president said the two had parted ways before Epstein's convictions.
Emails released by a House committee last week showed that the disgraced financier believed Trump "knew about girls," although it is not clear what that phrase referred to, Reuters reports.
Trump, who recently dismissed the Epstein documents as a Democratic smear campaign, has meanwhile ordered the Justice Department to investigate prominent Democrats' ties to Epstein.
The fight over the release of additional documents related to Epstein, a topic on which Trump himself campaigned, has opened a rift between him and some of his allies in Congress, according to Reuters.
Many of Trump's most loyal supporters believe the government is hiding sensitive documents about Epstein, a convicted sex offender who committed suicide in prison in 2019, that could reveal his ties to powerful public figures.
Late Friday, Trump withdrew his support for Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, one of his staunchest allies in Congress, after her criticism of some Republicans, including the way the Epstein documents issue was handled.
Congressman Ro Kana, a California Democrat and one of the original sponsors of the petition seeking a vote on the release of the documents, said Sunday that he expected more than 40 Republicans to vote in favor.
Republicans have a majority in the House of Representatives, with 219 seats, compared to 214 for Democrats.
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