WASHINGTON – Vice President JD Vance said President Donald Trump has “nothing to hide” as Democrats and Republicans alike have urged the administration to release all files concerning late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump has been facing backlash from his MAGA base in recent weeks after the Justice Department concluded that Epstein − a former friend of Trump’s − died by suicide and didn’t keep a “client list,” contradicting Attorney General Pam Bondi’s previous assertions.
Amid public clamor, Trump directed Bondi on July 17 to seek the release of grand jury testimony from federal cases brought against Epstein and his girlfriend, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. A federal judge in Florida rejected one of the administration’s requests July 23. Two other requests are still pending in Manhattan federal court.
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“Donald J Trump, I’m telling you, he’s got nothing to hide. His administration has got nothing to hide, and that’s why he’s been an advocate for full transparency,” Vance told reporters on July 28 in Canton, Ohio.
Vance also accused the Obama administration and the George W. Bush administration of going “easy” on Epstein and not “fully” investigating his case.
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“The attorney general is hard at work on that issue right now,” he said, noting that it “takes time” to assemble all the information.
Vance was among the many Trump allies who stoked expectations the government’s Epstien files contained evidence of an underage sex trafficking conspiracy.
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He wrote in a September 2021 post on X: “Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring? And then that guy died mysteriously in a jail? And now we just don’t talk about it.”
In an October 2024 interview with podcast host Theo Von, Vance said, “Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list, that is an important thing.” Von recently criticized Vance over his past remarks, asking him, “What changed?”
The New York Times recently reported that former Epstein employee Maria Farmer told law enforcement in 1996 that she encountered Trump in Epstein’s office and Epstein told Trump “No, no. She’s not here for you.”
Though Trump has tried to shift the focus from the Epstein files, he’s come under more scrutiny after a Wall Street Journal report that he sent a lewd letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday. Trump has denied the report and sued the news organization over the story.
Contributing: Joey Garrison and Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump has ‘nothing to hide’ in Epstein case, Vance says
