Even as President Donald Trump and his administration try to re-invest the president's political enemies and the 2016 election, the division of Republican lawmakers in the Jeffrey Epstein archives is still intensifying.
There were signs of growing pressure on the call for transparency last week when a GOP-Mahodity House oversight subcommittee voted to pass the Justice Department’s files for the spread of documents related to Epstein. House oversight chair James Comer also summoned Epstein’s accomplices and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell for testimony.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in Tallahassee, Florida, as sex traffickers of minors also met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday and Friday.
These developments are as some Republicans questioned the Justice Department's handling of documents, while others urged the government to share unissued information with the public.
Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican Missouri, said on Sunday that the administration had expectations for new revelations related to Epstein, which was a “political mistake.”
“I think part of this problem is creating some false expectations, which is a political mistake,” Burlison told CNN's Manu Raju. “I think when you don’t even look at all the files, you’ll be able to deliver and what’s available may be wrong.”
Burlison also said a large portion of the phone calls his office received recently were related to the Epstein case, and many feared that the government might keep it secret. Now that House members are back in August’s recess, they may ask questions directly from voters.
Another Republican representative, Utah's Utah Mike Kennedy, a practicing physician, compared the documents to “a frenzy oily wound with the pus pus wound below,” even if inappropriate treatment could get worse.
“As far as this Epstein thing is concerned, absolutely let it come out,” he said.
Kennedy promised to promote “full transparency” on this matter, and he will “vote immediately to get all releases” allowing the identities of the victim to be hidden.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna tried to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson and voted on a separate bill to demand the release of documents. Kentucky Representative Massie, who broke into Trump with the president’s exhaustive agenda bill, will require most House members to sign a discharge petition to force floor votes.
Johnson repeatedly said he supports transparency. Louisiana Republican defended his efforts to release information related to Epstein in the face of a secession meeting.
“Let me be absolutely clear. We have been releasing all the reliable evidence and information related to Epstein in any way from the beginning,” he said on NBC's “Meeting Media” on Sunday.
He insisted that Massie and Khanna's petitions were “reckless in the way they were drafted and presented,” believing that it did not provide adequate protection for victims. He also withdrew his claim that he adjourned the house for August to avoid a petition, noting that the petition did not “mature” until Friday’s house was booked out.
Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that Congress has no ability to force the release of files and that the judge must decide to release evidence from a large jury, noting that the Florida federal judge last week and other large juries last week refused to release.
“(Attorney General) Pam Bondi called on the judge to release it. Trump called on them to release it, Congress called on them to release it. But we can't, because we don't have a truly common equal branch of government, so we can't force the judiciary to do anything,” he said.
The department seeks to release the grand jury testimony is just a small part of the thousands of documents related to Epstein's investigation and criminal cases. Many of these documents have been detained in the Department of Justice and may not be submitted to a jury.
The judge has released hundreds of documents in the Epstein legend. As federal law protects the privacy of Epstein victims and does not commit crimes, the majority of those detained are considered unsuitable for release.
It all comes as Trump continues on a five-day trip to Scotland, where he announced on Sunday that the U.S. and the EU have reached a framework for a trade deal after meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
When reporters asked at a press conference that part of the deal was to distract from the turmoil related to Epstein, Trump said: “You have to be kidding. No, it has nothing to do with it.”
The president deflected the issue on the subject, claiming limited knowledge of the investigation, despite reports that he was told by Bondy in May that the name he appeared in the archives.
Last weekend, Trump also expanded his call for prosecution of political enemies. On Sunday, the president called for prosecution of former Vice President Kamala Harris and several prominent celebrities, including Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey, accusing them of illegally getting payments in exchange for approval from Democratic candidates, including Harris.
CNN fact-checked Beyoncé’s claims and found that it didn’t happen.
CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz, Kara Scannell, Aileen Graeff, Christian Sierra and Sarah Davis contributed to the report.