"The Democrats were Epstein's friends, all of them. And it's a hoax, the whole thing is a hoax," Trump told reporters Monday. Photo: Getty / Davidoff Studios Photography
- The US House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to release the "Epstein files".
- US President Donald Trump opposed the bill for months but changed his position on the weekend, and now says he would sign it into law if it got through Congress.
- A House vote on the bill is expected as early as Tuesday, local time. It would then need to pass the Republican-controlled Senate before going to Mr Trump for signing.
US President Donald Trump says he will sign a bill to force the release of the Epstein files if the legislation gets through Congress.
It is another flip by the US president, who fiercely opposed the bill until the weekend, after it became clear it had the numbers to pass the House of Representatives.
The bill - which would instruct the Department of Justice to release all unclassified documents relating to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein - now looks set to sail through the House this week.
It would then require the support of the Republican-controlled Senate before going to Trump for his signature.
Asked on Monday, local time, if he would sign the bill into law, Trump said: "Sure I would."
"I would let the Senate look at it. Let anybody look at it. But don't talk about it too much because honestly, I don't want it taking away from us," he said.
"It's really a Democrat problem. The Democrats were Epstein's friends, all of them. And it's a hoax, the whole thing is a hoax, and I don't want it taking away from, really, the greatness of what the Republican Party has accomplished over the last period of time."
The bill was introduced by Republican Thomas Massie, a critic of Trump's, and Democrat Ro Khanna in July.
Three Republican women subsequently backed it, giving it the numbers it needed to pass the House.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Photo: AFP / Getty
Those women - Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert - last week joined Democrats to sign a petition to force the vote.
After the White House failed to persuade any of the Republicans to reverse course, Trump used social media to say he now supported Republicans voting for it.
But it led to a public feud between Trump and Greene, previously one of his most prominent backers in Congress. Trump called Greene "wacky" and a "traitor". She said his public attacks on her were putting her in physical danger.
The issue was pushed back into the public spotlight last week after the release of several historical emails in which Epstein discussed his relationship with Trump.
- ABC
