GOP senator demands Trump ‘release the damn files’ on Epstein

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is pushing back hard on President Trump’s efforts to dismiss calls from the MAGA-aligned GOP base for more information about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and calling on the Trump administration to “just release the damn files.”

“I have to disagree with the president. I don’t think human trafficking of young teenage girls being exploited by billionaires on a private island is boring. I think it’s despicable and I believe that anybody who had anything to do with it or knowledge of it should be held accountable,” Tillis said in an interview with “Good Morning BT with Bo Thompson & Beth Troutman,” a daily talk radio show based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Just release the damn files,” Tillis urged.

His comments came in response to Trump’s efforts to tamp down the rising furor among conservative activists and social media influencers over a joint statement issued by the Department of Justice and FBI announcing that it would not have more information to share about Epstein’s alleged clients.

“I don’t understand it, why they would be so interested. He’s dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is,” Trump said of repeated calls from MAGA-aligned activists and voters for the federal government to release the so-called Epstein files.

“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland earlier this week.  

“I don’t understand why it keeps going,” he added.

The uproar within the Republican base was sparked earlier this month by a two-page memo from the Justice Department and FBI asserting that a “systematic review” of federal files had “revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’”

The Justice Department and FBI also asserted there was “no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”

And senior law-enforcement officials said they did not uncover evidence that could lead to an investigation against “uncharged third parties.”

Those claims, however, have come under withering criticism from some conservatives who expected a “client list” to be released after Attorney General Pam Bondi said in February “it’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) urged Bondi on Tuesday to “come forward and explain” the decision not to release additional information on Epstein and explore prosecutions of associates who may have engaged in sex trafficking or sex with underage women.