Democrats are echoing criticism from the right of how President Donald Trump and his administration have handled case files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — a change from Trump’s first term, when Democrats swiftly condemned Trump’s unfounded conspiracy theories about the investigation into the financier and his death.
The party has spent days poking the bear after an administration memo knocked down conspiracy theories related to Epstein’s past activities and his suicide in 2019. In Congress, Democratic committees and lawmakers are demanding that the Trump administration release more documents related to the investigation into Epstein, accusing the president and his allies of either a cover-up or a cynical ploy to exploit conspiracy theories about Epstein for political gain.
And on the campaign trail, the Democratic National Committee and Democratic candidates — including ones running in places Trump won in 2024 — have been fanning the flames as some of Trump’s most prominent right-wing supporters threaten a revolt over the issue.
With MAGA-world seething, key members of his administration at odds, and Trump himself on the defense, Democrats are embracing the raw politics of the situation, despite their previous scolding.
“What is Trump hiding? Release the Epstein files,” the DNC’s official X account posted last month.
Last week, the DNC launched a new account on X that posts messages each day reminding its followers that Trump has “not released the Epstein files.” The account has also reposted Trump-focused, Epstein-related criticism from key social media influencers. It also includes a header image of comments billionaire Elon Musk made after a spat with the White House — and without offering any evidence — in which Musk charged that Trump “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” (Trump has described having had a warm social relationship with Epstein, but he long ago distanced himself from Epstein. There has never been any evidence connecting Trump to Epstein’s criminal behavior.)
Courts over the years have unsealed and released tranches of documents related to Epstein’s case.
Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI released a memo outlining that an “exhaustive review” had found no client list for sex trafficking or evidence that would lead to additional charges being brought, and reaffirmed the finding that Epstein died by suicide in jail — validating the public material from previous document releases, testimony and media reports. The memo also added that it will be difficult to release more information because “sensitive information relating to these victims is intertwined throughout the materials.”
Asked by NBC News to discuss the strategy and how the party’s messaging and tone has changed since Trump’s first term, the Democratic National Committee provided a statement from Tim Hogan, its senior adviser for messaging, mobilization and strategy, who made an accountability argument about previous comments from Trump and administration officials on Epstein.
“Trump administration officials are either lying about the file and keeping it covered up to protect themselves, or they lied about its existence in a shameless political ploy to get elected. Either way, it is disgusting, and they have to be held accountable,” he said.
Asked to respond to the Democratic criticism, White House spokesman Harrison Fields told NBC News in a statement: “President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justice to victims. This work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity.”
“Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all,” he added.
Democrats in Congress latch on
Democratic Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas announced over the weekend that he would introduce a resolution “demanding the Trump administration release all files related to the Epstein case.”
“Either [Trump] and his acolytes fueled the rumors of the significance of these Epstein files to help his campaign, or something is there!” he posted on X, adding, “Put up or Shut up.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who also announced a legislative push aimed at compelling the administration to release more Epstein information, questioned “who are the rich & powerful being protected.”
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, another California Democrat, who spent much of Friday tangling with the White House over his criticism of a recent federal immigration raid in his state, replied to the White House’s criticism of him by telling them to “release the Epstein Files. Your base wants to know.” Fellow California members Eric Swalwell and Ted Lieu posted similar messages Friday, along with other Democrats.
The attacks have hit the campaign trail — and not just in deep-blue areas. Wisconsin Democrat Rebecca Cooke used similar language to needle the Republican incumbent, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, she’s challenging in a district that voted for Trump in 2024. And Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, the most vulnerable Democratic senator in next year’s midterms, who is running in a state that voted for Trump last year, criticized Trump on the issue while invoking the sexual misconduct and abuse allegations against the president and his past social relationship with Epstein. (Trump has denied allegations of sexual misconduct and has denied any impropriety related to Epstein’s crimes).
“President Trump promised to end the wars. He promised to release the Epstein files. Did anyone really think the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was gonna release the Epstein files?” Ossoff said at a rally in Savannah, Georgia.
The attacks from Democrats are not likely to abate after Trump took to his Truth Social platform over the weekend imploring followers to stop attacking his administration over the case, writing: “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’”
He went on to accuse Democrats of fabricating documents about Epstein and called the focus on Epstein a distraction from his successes. (Neither Trump nor his administration has ever presented evidence Democrats doctored files related to Epstein.)
A major shift
The message from Democrats is a shift in how they used to respond to Epstein-related conspiracy theories and to Trump’s Epstein-related musings.
After Trump shared an unfounded conspiracy theory on social media in 2019 that Democrats could be involved in Epstein’s death, a parade of Democratic presidential hopefuls lambasted the president. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas criticized Trump on CNN for “using this position of public trust to attack his political enemies with unfounded conspiracy theories,” while Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey panned Trump’s “recklessness” in “giving life to not just conspiracy theories but really whipping people up into anger” in another interview on the network.
Now, Democrats are defending the messaging. Brian Beutler, an influential newsletter author and liberal journalist, wrote in the Friday edition of his Off Message newsletter that Democrats need to confront the “tension” between the party’s “desire to contest elections on safe ground like health care policy” and “the new consensus that reaching marginal voters will require engaging with the online influencers and pop-culture figures those voters admire.”
“Politicos love admonishing each other to ‘meet people where they are,’ but what if ‘where they are’ is in the intersection of a Pop-Wellness/Epstein Files Venn diagram?” he wrote. He added: “It took until this week for Democrats to realize that the bugbear of ‘the Epstein files’ wasn’t just dumb right-wing nonsense, but something tons of people (even people who aren’t particularly committed to Donald Trump) actually care about.”
The topic is back in the news because of a memo from the Justice Department and the FBI, released last week, which amounted to a stark change in tune from Trump and some key officials from over the years.
In addition to Trump’s comments about Epstein during his first term, both FBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, the deputy director, fanned similar Epstein-related theories during their own pre-administration media appearances; and Attorney General Pam Bondi played into the administration’s hype about the files both in media appearances as well as by bringing conservative influencers to the White House to receive binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.”
The debate over the “Epstein files” has been a major topic of conversation on the far-right for years, particularly after his 2019 arrest and subsequent suicide in federal prison.
In 2023, a Justice Department inspector general report highlighted misconduct, negligence and errors by Bureau of Prisons employees surrounding Epstein’s suicide, but it found no evidence to undercut the finding he killed himself. And the more recent memo from the FBI and the Justice Department found no evidence of an “incriminating ‘client list’” or other evidence that could lead to additional prosecutions, findings that are in line with years of public reporting about Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls.
But while the official accounting of the case against Epstein has remained the same, conservative commentators like Bongino cast doubt on the official story for years. Now, the administration memo attempted to put to bed a story on which some Trump administration officials repeatedly drummed up conservative intrigue (and subsequent criticism).
