WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is making many of his Republican allies on Capitol Hill squirm — but that doesn’t mean they’re backing down.
After dismissing his own MAGA base as “stupid people,” “weaklings,” “foolish” and “PAST supporters,” the president has changed his tune a tad. But for many members of Congress in both parties, merely allowing Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the Jeffrey Epstein grand jury testimony is not good enough.
While the testimony would be welcome, members of Congress continue to demand the release of the full Epstein records, including the infamous client list that Bondi previously said was “on my desk" — and now denies exists.
“The grand jury release is a first step,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) told Raw Story at the Capitol.
“It's not going to have the information about all the other potential men who were involved, and that has to be a release of the witness memos, the release of the broader evidentiary file.”
If releasing the grand jury testimony was meant to placate Trump's critics, it’s already failed.
Republican rage
Republicans still seem to be struggling through the denial stage of collective grief after President Trump — who many referred to as “Daddy” throughout the 2024 election — spent the week lashing out at supporters and policymakers alike.
“My PAST supporters have bought into this “b—---,” hook, line, and sinker,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.
“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats[‘] work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”
After years of Trump stoking Epstein conspiracies, political watchers were left scratching their heads as the president did an about face, contradicting his campaign trail vows of transparency, justice, even revenge.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) is one of the president’s most devoted congressional allies, whether rocking gold Trump sneakers or not.
Raw Story asked him: “So wait, you don't think there's a change in tune from Trump on Epstein?”
“Why are we talking about Epstein?” Nehls said, walking down the Capitol steps.
“Because her committee,” Raw Story said, pointing to Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Chair of the Task Force on the Declassification of Secrets. “The Task Force on Secrets is charged with investigating it.”
“Then let them do their investigation,” Nehls said.
“But they say that's harder because the DOJ under Bondi isn't releasing the information they need,” Raw Story said.
“I don't think that’s what the boss said. The boss said, ‘If there's stuff out there to release, release it,’” Nehls said. “I don't think the boss is being an obstructionist. We've got to talk about the wins we have and not get distracted over Epstein.”
“But Epstein was a promise to the base that you guys were going to uncover this pedophile ring,” Raw Story pressed. “You're not worried that the base is going to come looking for revenge?”
“So much great stuff to talk about other than that,” Nehls said.
“Sounds like wagging the dog?” Raw Story asked.
“Sounds like it's just — let's move on,” Nehls said. “Let's just move on.”
But many Republicans, like those on the Secrets Task Force, do not want to move on. They are demanding documents, answers and candor — none of which the Trump administration has been willing to provide without a fight.
“Do you guys plan on following the president's lead and dropping your Epstein investigation?” Raw Story asked Luna.
“No,” the congresswoman said.
Luna’s Secrets Task Force is new. House Republican leaders erected it, in part, to show the party’s base Republicans are taking on the so-called “Deep State,” investigating conspiracies from JFK’s assassination to whether 9-11 was an inside job.
Top of the stack of historical conspiracies party leaders saddled the task force with is Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged list of partners in crime. But you wouldn’t necessarily know that from talking to the chair.
“You can see all my comments publicly,” Luna told Raw Story. “You're going to see more of that, and that's all I’m going to say on that.”
“But what'd you make of this President saying ‘stupid people?'”
“Just look at my comments,” Luna said.
“I've read your comments,” Raw Story's reporter said, “but the President said y'all are ‘stupid’ for looking into it.”
“He didn't say ‘y'all are stupid.’ There's a lot of context there,” Luna said. “You'll see soon.”
Congressional Republicans aren’t used to presidential tongue lashings, which may be why many have tuned out what Trump actually said.
‘This is stupid’
“What’d you make of President Trump calling many in the base dumb for being curious about this Epstein stuff?” Raw Story asked Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).
“I didn't hear that,” Mullin said. “I don't think he called them dumb.”
“He said, ‘stupid people,’” Raw Story said, reading the president’s exact quote.
“He was using it in the context of being caught up in this instead of focusing on what we've accomplished,” Mullin said. “Instead of focusing on what we've accomplished, we're allowing this one issue to divide us. I think he was referring to, ‘this is stupid.’”
"It was a hoax. It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans,” Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday. “And foolish Republicans fall into the net.”
Dumbfounded, members of the press asked for clarification on whether the president was parting ways with some of his most ardent supporters — whether inside or outside of Congress. Trump tripled down.
"Yeah I lost a lot of faith in certain people because they got duped by Democrats," the president told the cameras.
‘We're going to have transparency’
It’s hard for Democrats to fathom, but no Republicans on Capitol Hill are looking for a political divorce from Trump. He is today’s Republican Party.
“What do you make of President Trump accusing y'all interested in Epstein of being ‘stupid people’?” Raw Story asked Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), a veteran of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.
“Look, President Trump has done more for this country, and I like his style. I like him, you know, regardless,” Norman said. “I'm not going to criticize him for one thing.”
“But you're not going to lay down on your calls to investigate Epstein?”
“We're going to have transparency,” Norman promised.
Like Norman, a growing number of the party’s rank-and-file find themselves on the opposite side of the Epstein scandal from the president. Awkward.
"I'm for full transparency on this. I'll be supporting releasing files," Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told Raw Story.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) at the U.S. Capitol. REUTERS/Craig Hudson/File Photo
"Obviously, I want to protect kids and no one wants to see child porn, but this is about right and wrong and it's ensuring we have trust in the process. I've worked with a lot of victims over the years."
"And you're not worried at all that there is stuff in these files on President Trump?" Raw Story asked the Secrets Task Force member.
"No, I'm not worried at all," Mace said. "No, not worried. No, no, no, no. Nope, no he's not a pedophile. That's ridiculous."
Mace and other Republicans demanding the release of the Epstein files are now more aligned with their Democratic counterparts than they are with their MAGA master. Before this week, Democrats were suspicious, but many are now convinced Trump is hiding something damning.
“It’s Trump showing true colors,” said Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY). “He's a liar. He manipulates people,”
“Are you pretty convinced Trump’s on the list?” Raw Story asked.
“I think so,” Ryan told Raw Story. “It's the only explanation.”
When Trump tried to bury the investigation, he seems to have accidentally made Epstein the talk of the town. And that’s not a good thing.
'Internal rebellion'
It’s surely a new day in Trump’s Washington — ordinarily, Republicans just don’t cross him, in large part because those who have, have been primaried or pushed out of the party.
Despite GOP efforts to change the law, Trump is constitutionally barred from running for a third term. That makes him a lame duck, even as his allies on Capitol Hill need the very voters he’s alienating. Democrats are trying to exploit this newly forming fissure.
“The Epstein issue is a real issue in this space, and they don't want rich, powerful people protected,” Rep. Khanna told Raw Story. “It's the first time he's facing an internal rebellion on his own base.”
Strange new — if potentially temporary — alliances have begun to form. Khanna’s teaming up with libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to try and force both President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to release the Epstein files.
Massie’s been effective, according to Khanna, who says they’ve gotten roughly eight MAGA-tinged Republicans to sign their discharge petition — a rare procedural tool that enables otherwise powerless rank-and-file lawmakers to overrule the Speaker if they can garner support from more than half of their colleagues.
Speaker Johnson’s been doing the president’s bidding — abandoning most oversight of the executive branch, surrendering the power of the purse — but the discharge petition could cut him, other GOP leaders and Trump out of the equation altogether.
This latest GOP brawl is only energizing Democrats who’ve struggled to find their collective groove since Trump re-entered the Oval Office in January. Democrats sense GOP leaders are on their heels, which was on display all week as Johnson failed to muster enough GOP votes to even advance broadly bipartisan crypto bills.
According to Khanna, those disruptions were tied to the discharge petition. He says he has the votes to overrule the speaker, which is why GOP leaders are maneuvering behind the scenes.
“They're trying to avoid that, and then they're hoping that the momentum is lost during the August recess,” Khanna said. “But this issue is not going away. Are Republicans in the Trump administration protecting pedophiles? They're protecting the rich and powerful, and they're giving them impunity.”
Congressional Republicans reject the notion of some White House coverup. Rather, they say, Trump just wants to move on past his old buddy, Jeffrey Epstein.
"He just wants to be done," Mace said of the president.
There is broad bipartisan agreement on one thing — no one on Capitol Hill thinks the Epstein saga will end anytime soon.
In fact, many of the president’s Republican allies on the Secrets Task Force are vowing to keep the investigation alive until they get answers for their revved-up base.
"It's not going away,” Mace told Raw Story. “Look what's happening right now in Washington — we can't hold a hearing without it coming up, because Democrats understand the political wedge that it is.”
