(WASHINGTON) — Even after President Donald Trump called some of his followers “stupid” and “foolish” for their persistent calls for his administration to divulge the details of the Jeffrey Epstein files, many of his most prominent MAGA supporters and congressional Republicans continue to demand answers.
Their calls stemmed from years of media prompts from prominent right wing figures, including Trump himself, who have pushed accusations about the convicted sex offender and alleged human trafficker and the “deep state” that’s protecting the elites that were purportedly his clients.
Right-wing influencers such as Michael Flynn have been pushing for the the list that they believe is in the hands of the Justice Department of Epstein’s clients , who they allege, without evidence, are powerful liberals. Flynn, one of Trump’s staunchest supporters who has pushed QAnon conspiracies related to sex trafficking, went on X Wednesday imploring Trump to reconsider his claim that the Epstein controversy was a “hoax,” contending that the allegations against Epstein were too serious to ignore.
“All we want at this stage is for a modicum of trust to be reestablished between our federal government and the people it is designed to serve,” he said in his post.
“With my strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a way to move past this. The roll out of this was terrible, no way around that. Americans want America to be successful, therefore, WE NEED YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL,” Flynn added.
Some congressional Republicans who are among Trump’s strongest supporters have bucked the president’s wishes to drop the subject.
Speaker Mike Johnson said told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that he’s for releasing the files.
“I’m for transparency,” Johnson said. “It’s a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, one of Trump’s fiercest supporters in Congress, told the New York Times, “It’s definitely a full reversal on what was all said beforehand, and people are just not willing to accept it.”
GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters Tuesday, “I think it’s reasonable for the American people to ask who [Epstein] sex trafficked these young women to — if anybody besides himself. And if there were others involved, why haven’t they been prosecuted? That’s a perfectly understandable question, and I think the Justice Department is going to have to answer it.”
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said, “This is the worst one, the worst human trafficking rings in American history, run by this scumbag. And I think the more we know about it, the more we get out there, the better it is,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Tuesday.
The MAGA base’s arguments about the Epstein files grew among podcasters, social media posts and other influencers after Trump’s first term ended
For years, Kash Patel, now Trump’s FBI director, pushed conspiracies related to the Epstein investigation and made baseless allegations about the “deep state.”
Patel called for the public disclosure of the Epstein documents and those of other investigations, arguing in November that Trump “can expose the documents that these folks have written for decades, allowing [their] corrupt activities.”
Dan Bongino, a former Fox News host and now deputy director of the FBI, repeatedly brought up Epstein on his podcast, in interviews and on his social media pages, alleging that the Democrats were covering up the investigation.
“Listen, that Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal, please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on this,” Bongino said in a 2023 episode of his podcast.
On Wednesday, some of those influencers sounded off on the matter.
Key Trump ally Steve Bannon put pressure on the administration to release more details.
“I’ve argued with the Epstein situation. People want accountability. Even people that are late to this story and don’t know much about Epstein, they think something’s murky here,” he said.
Podcaster Johnson responded to Trump comparing the Epstein case to the other “hoaxes” he frequently cites, arguing that Trump should want all the information on Epstein out there.
“But my point to the president, respectfully, is the only way we know that all those are fake and that that’s all garbage is that the federal is that eventually we got all of the information … So, like, by Trump’s own logic, here, we should be releasing everything, which I think would be a great pressure release valve for all this,” he said.
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