President Donald Trump made the stunning announcement Friday that he would ask his attorney general to launch an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s ties with several prominent Democratic figures, but one expert warned the move was actually a ploy to block any further releases of files related to the disgraced financier.
“[Attorney General] Pam Bondi had shut down the Epstein cases – which is why Congress could finally vote on releasing files,” wrote Adam Cochran, a policy consultant, professor and investigative journalist, in a social media post on X Friday. “Trump is ordering new investigations in an effort to BLOCK the release by making it an active case.”
Trump’s announcement comes amid growing scrutiny over his past ties with Epstein, renewed scrutiny sparked by a massive dump of files from Epstein’s estate on Wednesday that revealed Trump may have “spent hours” with one of Epstein’s victims at his home, or that Trump may have spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Epstein while serving as president.
Those files were released by the House Oversight Committee, which has an ongoing investigation into Epstein and his connections to powerful figures. While the committee has been successful in using its subpoena power to acquire and release files from Epstein’s estate, its investigation runs in tandem with a broader effort to force the Justice Department to release its own trove of files on Epstein.
That effort is spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), who have filed a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill that would force the DOJ to fork over its files on Epstein. Bondi abruptly closed her agency’s investigation into Epstein back in July.
Were Bondi to open a new investigation into Epstein, however, the DOJ would be compelled not to release any files related to the disgraced financier due to policy on releasing material related to an active case. Should the case take several years, as have similar cases in the past, then the DOJ could be prohibited from releasing any files on Epstein at least through Trump’s presidency.
Pam Bondi had shut down the Epstein cases - which is why Congress could finally vote on releasing files.
Trump is ordering new investigations in an effort to BLOCK the release by making it an active case. pic.twitter.com/rfQKlUqZ34
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) November 14, 2025