Mike Johnson signals break with Trump on Epstein

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday joined the chorus of Trump-friendly voices urging the administration to release files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The big picture: President Trump has urged his rattled base not to "waste [t]ime" over the case, but the Justice Department and FBI's conclusion that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 and had no "client list" has driven a wedge within the MAGA world."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 told reporters Tuesday when asked about his supporters' focus on the case, which he described as "pretty boring stuff."Democrats have swiftly seized on that rift, attempting to force their GOP colleagues to choose between the White House and its angry faithful.Republicans on Tuesday rejected a Democratic procedural maneuver aimed at forcing the DOJ to release Epstein-related documents, dismissing the effort as a partisan ploy.Driving the news: Despite his party rejecting Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna's (Calif.) measure, Johnson told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson he's "for transparency" in an episode released Tuesday afternoon."It's a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it," he said.Johnson added that Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump has defended as she becomes a main target of MAGA rage, "needs to come forward and explain" the confusion she created by claiming in an interview that a list of Epstein's clients was sitting on her desk.What he's saying: "I'm anxious to get this behind us," Johnson added.Yes, but: Bondi on Tuesday said, "Today our memo speaks for itself, and we will get back to you about anything else."David Schoen, a former attorney for Epstein, said on NewsNation's "Cuomo" Tuesday that he doesn't believe a "client list" exists, noting, "That wasn't Jeffrey Epstein."Between the lines: Axios' Marc Caputo reports that the Trump administration is considering at least three ways to mitigate the backlash that's erupted over an issue of high importance to many in his base. But in the meantime, Democrats are turning up the volume on the Epstein mess and are promising future votes.Zoom out: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), whose relationship with the president has long been contentious, announced Tuesday that he would launch an effort to use a long-shot procedural tool to bypass House leadership and force another vote on the matter.The discharge petition would require 218 lawmaker signatures."We all deserve to know what's in the Epstein files, who's implicated, and how deep this corruption goes," Massie wrote on X. "Americans were promised justice and transparency."The resolution, cosponsored by Khanna, would require Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format" materials in possession of the DOJ (including the FBI and U.S. Attorneys' Offices) connected to Epstein within 30 days of the measure's enactment.The bottom line: Even as Trump tries to quell the conversation about a man he described as "somebody that nobody cares about," the fallout is haunting the president's team, Axios' Marc Caputo reports. The divide is music to Democrats' ears — literally, in the case of Rep. Hank Johnson's (D-Ga.) musical plea to release the Epstein files — allowing them to lean into a "more is more" strategy of fighting back against Trump, per Axios' Andrew Solender.And even key Trump allies, like Johnson, don't seem to be harmonizing with the administration.Go deeper: The Trump-Epstein question that put the White House "in a tizzy"

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