US President Donald Trump announced on Friday he is directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch an investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins connections to numerous high-profile individuals and institutions. This extraordinary action follows the recent public release of emails from the late Epstein that include references to Trump. In a post on Truth Social, Trump framed the directive as a direct countermeasure against Democrats, whom he accused of using what he termed the "Epstein Hoax" to distract from what he called their "disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures." Trump insisted that "Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat's problem, not the Republican's problem!" Trump stated he would ask Attorney General Bondi, the Department of Justice, and the FBI to investigate Jeffrey Epsteins relationships with figures and institutions such as Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, and J.P. Morgan Chase, with the goal of determining the nature of their involvement. Later the same day, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed she would initiate the investigation as ordered. She assigned Jay Clayton, the top prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, to lead the federal probe. This decision represents a departure from a July 2025 DOJ memo which stated that a review of the files found no evidence to warrant an investigation The move marks the Presidents most significant effort yet to discredit the growing, bipartisan pressure to release all of the Epstein case files. It aligns with Trumps strategy of addressing the issue through decisive action, though some allies have expressed concern that his approach is inadvertently giving the story more prominence. Conservative media personality Megyn Kelly, for example, publicly questioned the strategy: "Why doesnt he just release these? Just release them! Now hes in a position of being, like, singled out as the only one, allegedly, as opposed to one of a slew of names. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also called the President's opposition to releasing the files a "huge miscalculation." The White Houses handling of the Epstein fallout has been a source of internal debate. Earlier this week, the administration tried unsuccessfully to block a discharge petition in the US House, which was designed to force a floor vote on releasing the Justice Department's Epstein files. Despite an in-person meeting at the White Housewhere officials reportedly showed her unreleased documentskey GOP lawmaker Rep. Lauren Boebert signed the petition, providing the decisive 218th signature. Reports indicate the President himself has been dictating the administrations response, instructing his team to consistently oppose actions that risk propelling the story forward. Accepting that the vote cannot be blocked, House Speaker Mike Johnson has now agreed to schedule a vote on releasing the Epstein files next week. The measure is expected to garner substantial support from rank-and-file Republican lawmakers
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