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Your guide to what Trump\u2019s second term means for Washington, business and the world<\/p>\n
Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson will send members of Congress home early to avoid a vote on releasing files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, as Donald Trump\u2019s allies seek to contain a spiralling crisis over the administration\u2019s handling of the case.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives is set to be in recess from Wednesday for five weeks, a day earlier than scheduled, and is not expected to return until September.<\/p>\n
Johnson said on Tuesday that Democrats were playing \u201cpolitical games\u201d by trying to force votes on measures that would require the US Department of Justice to release documents relating to the life and death of the disgraced financier. <\/p>\n
Several Republican House members have also called for the so-called \u201cEpstein files\u201d to be made public, as some of the loudest voices in Trump\u2019s Maga movement have demanded greater transparency.<\/p>\n
A memo by the DoJ and FBI this month stated there was no \u201ccredible evidence\u201d that the disgraced financier \u201cblackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions\u201d and that an Epstein \u201cclient list\u201d did not exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The furore was fuelled last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had sent Epstein a birthday message in 2003 that referred to \u201csecrets\u201d and contained a lewd drawing. Trump has since sued the newspaper and its owner Rupert Murdoch, alleging libel and demanding $10bn in damages.<\/p>\n
But as he moved for an early recess on Tuesday, Johnson pinned the blame on the opposition, saying Democrats were using the Epstein case as a \u201cpolitical battering ram\u201d, adding: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to allow them to engage in that charade anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s intervention came as Trump and his allies seek to stamp out criticism of his administration\u2019s handling of the Epstein case. <\/p>\n
A top Department of Justice official earlier on Tuesday said he would meet Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted for helping lure underage girls for Epstein, for possible evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DoJ will hear what she has to say,\u201d deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche said.<\/p>\n
He added that he had contacted the lawyer for Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, and intended \u201cto meet with her soon\u201d.<\/p>\n
Trump has repeatedly railed against public interest in the case in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
But asked about Blanche\u2019s intervention on Tuesday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: \u201cI didn\u2019t know that they were going to do it. I don\u2019t really follow that too much\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009It\u2019s a witch-hunt, just a continuation of a witch-hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump\u2019s second term means for Washington,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-282950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114897833362129548","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}