On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives approved a bill requiring the Justice Department to make public documents collected during Jeffrey Epstein’s trial. The House of Representatives consisted of 435 voting members: the bill passed with 427 votes in favor and only one vote against, that of Clay Higgins, a Republican congressman from Louisiana and staunch Trump supporter.
Epstein was a financier accused of sexually exploiting dozens of underage girls, who committed suicide in prison in 2019. Secret documents from his trial, as well as Trump’s possible involvement, have been a problem for the president for months. His position on the issue is confusing and often contradictory: he simply tries to divert attention, but to no avail as the media continues to place great emphasis on every minor development.
After months of trying to sabotage and downplay the importance of the Epstein case, Trump on Sunday said he supported the release of documents collected during the trial and called on Republicans to vote for legislation making it mandatory. This sudden change in approach was a very rare case in which Trump was forced to give in to Republican demands, and not the other way around, and he therefore publicly demonstrated that he had lost control of parts of his party.
