U.S. President Donald Trump has attacked the current commotion over his administration's response to the Jeffrey Epstein case as a politically motivated "con job" perpetrated to discredit his administration, The Hill reports.
In an angry Truth Social post, Trump accused the controversy of being part of a wider campaign of smear. "The Radical Left Democrats are trying to do everything in their power to distract and obfuscate from our GREAT six months of service to America, results of which many are saying is the BEST six months in Presidential history," he said.
He also continued, "They have gone totally CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM."
Trump continued his denigration by calling the scrutiny a "Democrat CON JOB," hoping that the public release of grand jury materials would "end this HOAX."
Trump has made a recent move directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue the unsealing of grand jury testimonies of Epstein and his business associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The action was taken amidst mounting calls for openness, not just from Democrats but even from Trump's own MAGA supporters.
In spite of the increasing pressure, U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg Wednesday turned down the Department of Justice's request for unsealing the documents, declaring, "The Court's hands are tied."
Responding to the ruling, Trump attacked Democrats for not seeking unsealing during former President Joe Biden's regime, when they had a majority in the Senate.
In the same report, The Hill disclosed that a new declassified memo of Trump's administration stated that Epstein did not maintain a "client list" and reiterated the official determination that his 2019 in-prison death was a suicide. These findings have fueled renewed calls for more clarity from the Justice Department.
Polling information used by The Hill is indicative of the public's alarm: an Emerson College Polling survey revealed that more than half of the voters disapprove of the handling of the Epstein investigation by the administration. And a Fox News poll found that 60 percent of Republican voters believe that the government is not coming clean about the case files.
The controversy has created internal tensions within the GOP. House Speaker Mike Johnson, during an interview with CBS News, said that the Epstein scandal is "not a hoax," contradicting Trump's theme of a politically driven witch hunt.
In a unusual bipartisan action, Representative Thomas Massie, Republican and vocal Trump critic, teamed up with Democrat Ro Khanna to offer a resolution calling for full disclosure of all materials related to Epstein during the final hours of Congress before adjournment.
Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday and is next set to question her again on Friday. According to The Hill, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has also subpoenaed Maxwell, with a deposition scheduled for August 11.
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