The White House has taken a different approach to the Jeffrey Epstein case, as the uproar surrounding the case has been fueled by the murder of University of Idaho students, Bryan Kohberger. The House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena the Justice Department to release files tied to the case, with three Republicans joining Democrats to vote on the matter. Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell was subpoenaed for a deposition at the Federal Correctional Institution in Florida, where she is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
In Florida, a federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request to release federal grand jury transcripts from 2005 and 2007 in connection with an investigation into Epstein. This comes weeks after the Justice Department said in a memo that it would not release files detailing the federal government’s investigation of Epstein, sparking uproar from critics, including Trump’s own MAGA base. The financier, who died by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019, has been the subject of right-wing conspiracy theories for years.
Trump and his Republican allies have sought to distract from the firestorm by blaming Democrats and bringing up old feuds. However, Trump is finding out there are limits to his ability to pivot away from the issue. The White House is taking a more restrained approach when it comes to talking about the Epstein case, signaling that he doesn’t want members of his administration discussing the matter nonstop. White House aides have made it clear that no one in the administration is allowed to talk about Epstein without high-level vetting.
