WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump and his administration are taking friendly fire over the Justice Department’s recent review of the Jeffrey Epstein case files. Now, Democrats are getting their shots in too.
Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, is one of a handful of Democratic lawmakers taking advantage of an emerging schism between Trump and his base. Veasey said he plans to introduce a resolution July 14 calling for the release of “all files related to the Epstein case.”
Trump and top members of his administration spent years stoking MAGA anticipation of a scandalous Epstein “client list” and evidence the disgraced financier did not commit suicide in 2019 − only to let the base down with a Justice Department report last week confirming there was no list and that Epstein had taken his own life.
“Either (Trump) and his acolytes fueled the rumors of the significance of these Epstein files to help his campaign, or something is there!” Veasey wrote in a July 13 post. “Put up or Shut up!”
Trump said during his 2024 reelection campaign that he would support releasing additional details from the Epstein case.
But a new memo by the Justice Department and FBI out July 7 reported no evidence of a client list or that Epstein had been murdered in custody.
Prominent MAGA figures were incensed, and many have called for the ouster of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Blondi has underserved President Trump and (Vice President JD Vance),” conservative activist and social media influencer Laura Loomer wrote on X July 11, using a derogatory nickname for the attorney general.
“Sadly, now the base’s patience is wearing thin,” Loomer added.
Another close Trump ally, former White House chief strategist and podcaster Steve Bannon even warned the blow up could cost Republicans in upcoming elections.
“It’s deeper than Epstein,” Bannon told a crowd of young conservatives at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit July 12.
“For this to go away,” he added, “you’re going to lose 10 percent of the MAGA movement. If we lose 10 percent of the MAGA movement right now, we’re going to lose 40 seats in (2026), we’re going to lose the presidency.”
Democrats sure hope so.
Along with Rep. Veasey, fellow Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California is bringing forward an amendment to an unrelated bill that similarly calls for the publication of documents related to Epstein’s case.
Both proposals, unlikely to advance in a GOP-controlled House, could still put Republicans in the awkward position of siding with Democrats and satisfying their MAGA base, or trying to move past the issue as Trump has requested.
“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening,” the president wrote in a July 12 post. “We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats use MAGA’s Jeffrey Epstein fury against Trump
