*

Republicans release 20,000 documents, accuse Democrats of

cherry-picking messages

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House to vote on Justice Department's unclassified Epstein

files

next week

By David Morgan and Helen Coster

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Some prominent

conservative influencers sought to downplay newly released

emails from Jeffrey Epstein in which the convicted sex offender

wrote that Donald Trump "knew about the girls," arguing the

messages were part of a broader Democratic hoax targeting the

U.S. president.

The emails, released by House Democrats on Wednesday, again

thrust the relationship between Epstein and Trump into the

spotlight. Trump, who was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and

early 2000s before the two had a falling out, has consistently

denied knowing about the late financier's abuse and sex

trafficking of underage girls.

The House will vote next week on whether to require the

Justice Department to publish all of its unclassified files on

Epstein.

Democrats said the emails, including one in which Epstein

said Trump spent hours at his house with one of his victims,

raised troubling new questions about what Trump may have known.

Republican lawmakers responded by releasing 20,000

Epstein-related documents and accused Democrats of

cherry-picking a handful of messages to advance a false

narrative.

"These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact

that President Trump did nothing wrong," White House press

secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday.

SOME TRUMP VOTERS ALLEGE GOVERNMENT COVERUP

The scandal has been a political thorn in Trump's side for

months, in part because he amplified conspiracy theories about

Epstein to his own supporters and promised to release the

Justice Department's investigative files. Many Trump voters

believe the government has covered up Epstein's ties to powerful

figures and obscured details surrounding his death by suicide in

a Manhattan jail in 2019.

But a handful of leading MAGA voices defended Trump

following the emails' release. Right-wing commentator Jack

Posobiec focused on messages between Epstein and journalists

that, according to an X post he shared, "showed members of

regime media colluding with Jeffrey Epstein to create hoaxes

about Trump."

Rogan O'Handley, who goes by DC_Draino online, wrote on

social media, "These drip-drip Democrat disclosures are nothing

but distractions to once again smear a good man's name." Rob

Schmitt, host of conservative cable channel Newsmax ( NMAX ), called the

Washington Post's story about the emails "truly vile reporting."

Trump canceled a planned press availability during a dinner

with financial executives on Wednesday and then declined to take

questions from reporters at an Oval Office event to sign the

legislation ending the government shutdown, a highly unusual

move for Trump.

Reporters shouted questions about Epstein as they were

shuttled out of the room.

HOUSE TO VOTE ON RELEASE OF FILES

The resolution, introduced by maverick Republican

Representative Thomas Massie and co-sponsored by 11 Republicans

and 39 Democrats, caused months of heartburn for Trump and party

leaders in the House, who have criticized the initiative as a

danger to victims and opted to leave disclosures to

investigators at the House Oversight Committee.

"We have been for maximum transparency of the Epstein files

from the very beginning," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, who

announced he would bring the measure to the floor early after it

became clear that Massie would succeed in forcing a vote by

collecting signatures from a majority of House members.

The upcoming vote presents a political dilemma for House

Republicans torn between loyalty to Trump and the appeals for

transparency from some of Epstein's alleged victims. Johnson

sought to spare lawmakers a recorded vote on Wednesday by

requesting passage by unanimous consent, a move rebuffed by

Democrats.

Supporters of the measure say Republicans who oppose it

could risk being viewed by MAGA voters as protectors of

pedophiles once Trump leaves office after the 2028 election.

"If they're thinking about the right thing to do, that's

pretty obvious: you vote for it," Massie told reporters. "But if

they're just thinking politically, they need to look past 2028

and wonder if they want this on their record for the rest of

their political careers."

The resolution would only take effect if it passes both

chambers of Congress and Trump then signs it into law.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office did not

respond to a query on whether he would bring the measure up for

a vote if it passes the House.

Massie hopes the measure will draw significant backing from

House Republicans to raise the chances that the Senate will

act. But some who back the resolution say wider support may be

in doubt.

"I think most of my colleagues are taking their marching

orders, and that comes from the top," Representative Marjorie

Taylor Greene, an ardent supporter of the resolution, told the

Sean Spicer Show podcast.