Republican U.S. Representative Nancy Mace has kept her name on a discharge petition that would lead to a House vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, defying pressure from President Donald Trump to remove it and stop what he has called a Democratic-driven “hoax” against him.
Mace also wrote on social media on Wednesday that Trump had been “exonerated by Epstein victims.”
According to reports by Axios and The New York Times, citing unnamed people familiar with the efforts, Trump and his team had been reaching out to Mace and at least one other Republican—U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert—who signed the Epstein files discharge petition to persuade them to back down. As neither did, there will now be a vote on releasing the files.
Trump Under Renewed Pressure on Jeffrey Epstein
House Oversight Democrats on Wednesday released tranches of emails to and from Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, that raised fresh questions about what Trump knew of his former friend’s behavior. The White House dismissed the emails as selectively released and a partisan smear campaign against Trump.
The Epstein issue is a major and rare tension point between Trump and his loyal MAGA base of supporters, many of whom believe the government is covering up the full extent of the disgraced financier’s activities and those of his network of elite contacts. They have expressed growing anger over the administration’s handling of the release of the investigation files.
“I signed the discharge petition. I was one of four Republicans to do so,” Mace, who is running for governor in South Carolina, wrote on X late on Wednesday.
“I stand with all survivors. When it seems like the world is against you. When the press hates your guts. When your friends desert you. Your pain is my pain. Your fight is my fight. Your justice is our justice. God bless all those who never had a fighting chance. The Epstein vote will be for you too,” she continued.
Earlier, the representative had said the story was about Epstein’s victims, not Trump. She also wrote in a separate post, “Trump has been exonerated by Epstein victims.”
In a lengthy statement, Mace described her motivation for pursuing the Epstein files, citing her own experiences as a victim of sexual violence and calling the issue “deeply personal.”
“I’ll never understand why God threw me gut punch after gut punch—but I’m stronger, a better mother and a better friend to those in need. It’s why I’m TOUGH and ignore the evil before me,” Mace said. “As a survivor I will defend every last attack on President Trump to the death, everywhere.”
Trump Tells Republicans: ‘No Deflections to Epstein’
Trump has said on Truth Social that only “stupid” Republicans would fall into the “trap” laid by Democrats on the Epstein files.
“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump wrote on Wednesday.
He continued: “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap. The Democrats cost our Country $1.5 Trillion Dollars with their recent antics of viciously closing our Country, while at the same time putting many at risk—and they should pay a fair price.
“There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”
House Set To Vote on Epstein Files Release
The U.S. House of Representatives is now set to hold a vote on releasing the Epstein files after a two-month hiatus prevented newly elected Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva of Arizona from assuming her role.
The Democrat became the 218th signature on the Epstein files discharge petition on Wednesday, giving it majority backing, shortly after she took her oath.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is now forced to hold the vote, which had been touted before the House went on recess. Johnson told reporters he would bring a bill to the floor next week requiring the Justice Department to release all of its Epstein case files, moving up the timeline from earlier expectations.
With the backing of a small group of Republicans and all Democrats, it is expected to pass.
“Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein’s abuses than he previously acknowledged,” Grijalva said on the House floor. “It’s past time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people.”