Donald Trump may have just handed Republicans the lifeline they’ve been scrambling for as pressure mounts to finally release the Epstein files. And he did it with a sudden, made-for-headlines move: ordering a new federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s ties only to Democrats — instantly turning those same files into evidence in an “active investigation,” the kind DOJ traditionally refuses to hand over.
For months, Republicans had been running out of ways to stall. They’ve already fought the discharge petition, let the government grind into a shutdown battle, and even blocked the swearing-in of a new House member — Adelita Grijalva — whose very first signature would have forced a vote on releasing the files. The dam was about to break.
Then Trump and Pam Bondi stepped in with a new excuse wrapped in legal process.
On Friday, Trump announced that he would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to high-profile Democrats and major institutions — a move clearly designed to flip the script after Democrats released new Epstein emails that mentioned Trump.
Democrats, he claimed, were “using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures.”
Then he spelled out exactly who he wanted targeted.
“I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Bondi quickly confirmed she would carry out the order, adding: “Thank you, Mr. President.”
The Timing Isn’t a Coincidence
Bondi’s announcement came after months of building tension inside the GOP, with a real chance that House Republicans were about to defy Trump and vote to release the full cache of Epstein documents. Even Trump’s attempts to strong-arm them — including a Situation Room meeting aimed at peeling off Lauren Boebert — weren’t enough. Speaker Mike Johnson had already resigned himself to the inevitable: there would be a vote.
Until now.
Under long-standing DOJ practice, once something is part of an active criminal investigation, releasing files becomes a nonstarter. And Republicans who didn’t want to be seen protecting Trump suddenly have a procedural shield to hide behind.
CNN’s Elie Honig summed it up simply: “If there’s an ongoing criminal investigation, that’s a perfectly good reason for Congress to back off or to vote no.”
Even Conservative Voices Are Calling It What It Looks Like
The blowback was immediate. Megyn Kelly slammed the whole situation: “Why doesn’t he just release these? Just release them!”
Reid Hoffman didn’t mince words either. He called the new investigation “an obvious ploy to avoid releasing the files,” adding, “I refuse to bend the knee to Donald Trump and his slanderous lies.”
Clinton’s spokesperson fired back too: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing.”
JPMorgan Chase was pulled back into the mess as well. Patricia Wexler said the bank cut Epstein loose years earlier and “regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts.”
Inside the White House Chaos
Behind the scenes, the White House has been spinning in circles on the Epstein issue. Officials admit they didn’t want Epstein back in the news cycle, and at least one Capitol Hill ally told Trump directly that he was handling this all wrong.
But aides say Trump insists on controlling the narrative personally. One insider put it bluntly: “Trump doesn’t want his people to get ahead of it. Everybody has been instructed to wait until information comes out and then respond that it is a hoax or doesn’t prove anything.”
In the 24 hours after the House Oversight Committee released emails written by Epstein that mentioned Trump, he refused to take reporters’ questions. None of the messages were to or from him, and he’s not accused of wrongdoing — but he still spent the week spiraling on Truth Social, calling Republicans pushing to release the files “soft and foolish” and branding the entire thing a “Hoax.”
On Air Force One, he again denied any closeness with Epstein: “Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years,” he said, before turning the heat back on the Democrats he wants investigated.
Now the DOJ Has the Perfect Cover
For Republicans who’ve been looking for a fresh justification to block or delay a vote they didn’t want to take, Trump and Bondi just handed them a gift: everything can now be chalked up to “not interfering with an active criminal investigation.”
And that was the point.
A vote that seemed inevitable just days ago suddenly looks muddy. The White House has a new legal rationale to fight disclosure. And GOP lawmakers now have something they can point to on the record.
The irony is that this may drag the issue out longer, not bury it. The attempts to stall the Epstein files have become their own story — and Trump’s unexpected move just added another chapter.
Republicans were running out of road. Trump and Bondi just paved them a new lane.
