Former Vice President Mike Pence urged the Trump administration to release all of the investigative findings related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a different stance his ex-boss took on July 16.
During an interview with CBS News’ Major Garrett, the former Indiana governor said the “time has come” for all the facts to become available to the American people, adding he’s “always believed in transparency.” Pence emphasized that the names of the victims should be excluded from any disclosure.
“Whether or not the facts justify charges, I think anyone who participated or was associated with this despicable man ought to be held to public scrutiny,” Pence told Garrett.
Pence did not suggest the lack of transparency is politically motivated, but did hint that the investigation into the disgraced financier began during George W. Bush’s administration and continued into Barack Obama’s tenure at the White House.
“I know of no reason why this administration — once the victims’ names are protected — should not release all the files on Jeffrey Epstein,” he said.
The interview follows President Donald Trump’s recent criticisms toward Republicans who raised questions about his administration’s handling of the Epstein case. In a July 16 social media post, he described conservative backers as “stupid” and “weaklings” falling for Democrats’ work.
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. And my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bulls***,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”
USA TODAY reached out to the White House for comment on Pence’s interview.
Marjorie Taylor Green, Mike Johnson among calls for transparency
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, were among the Trump allies to push for transparency on the Epstein investigation. The calls came after the Justice Department released a memo earlier this month stating that a systematic review “revealed no incriminating ‘client list” and that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The memo also said the department found no evidence to support theories that Epstein was murdered while in custody, affirming New York’s chief medical examiner’s ruling that he died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019.
“No one believes there is not a client list,” Greene wrote on a July 8 X post.
In a July 15 interview with the Benny Johnson Show, Johnson also called for the release of more Epstein records, saying: “I’m for transparency.”
“It’s a very delicate subject,” he said. “But we should put everything out there and let the people decide.”
Trump says he doesn’t understand ‘fascination’ with case
Trump said he doesn’t understand the “fascination” with the case, blaming “bad people” for the attention and coverage it continues to receive.
“It’s sordid, but it’s boring,” he told reporters on July 15,. “And I don’t understand why it keeps going. Really only bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.”
While Epstein died before sitting for trial, the registered sex offender pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008. Trump, who had a friendship with Epstein years ago, has appeared in legal documents concerning Epstein’s crimes but is not implicated.
Contributing: Zac Anderson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Pence urges Donald Trump to release all the Jeffrey Epstein files
