The White House will need to do plenty more to get past Epstein

Prominent conservatives and Republicans alike are far from satisfied with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the White House’s answers about the Jeffrey Epstein case. This despite President Trump’s growing frustration that the story is distracting from his administration’s victories and legislative accomplishments.

Democrats spent years dismissing the Epstein scandal as a baseless right-wing obsession — but they’re not satisfied now, either. They see an opening to divide the GOP. While the Democrats' efforts could backfire and lead Republicans to pull themselves together, it’s still likely that the administration will need to do more than it initially could have gotten away with to make the issue go away.

This might seem like a good opportunity for Democrats to let Republicans fight it out among themselves, but since the debacle began, they’ve merrily inserted themselves into the intraparty struggle session.

Rank-and-file Republican congressmen and senators have remained mostly quiet on the subject. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson on Tuesday that he’d like to see Epstein’s imprisoned co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, testify before Congress — and wants to see the administration release the documents it has.

Federalist publisher Sean Davis summed up the anger well. “The Epstein case isn’t just another random story people are focused on,” he wrote. “It is a proxy for whether the Trump DOJ has what it takes to hold the Deep State accountable across the board. And people are rightfully concerned about DOJ’s competence given how it has handled the Epstein mess this year.”

Others with direct access to the president also disagree with his wishes to stop talking about it, including MAGA internet provocateur Laura Loomer. “There should be a special counsel appointed to do an independent investigation of the handling of the Epstein files so that people can feel like this issue is being investigated,” she told the Playbook newsletter Sunday night, “and perhaps take it out of [Attorney General Pam Bondi’s] hands, because I don’t think that she has been transparent or done a good job handling this issue.”

Special counsels almost never unfold the way administrations hope — and they often spiral out of control. Loomer’s latest suggestion could hand a powerful excuse to White House officials already uneasy with her influence. Many inside the West Wing don’t share the president’s enthusiasm for her chaotic opinions and influence.

Trump himself is clearly furious about the situation. He scolded New York Post reporter Steven Nelson for raising the topic during a Cabinet meeting. He appeared frustrated when Pam Bondi stepped in to answer. Over the weekend, he posted in all caps, comparing the controversy to the Russiagate hoax that dogged his first term. On the South Lawn, he blamed Democrats for stoking the flames.

Democrats could have stepped back and let Republicans tear each other apart. Instead, they jumped headfirst into the fight.

Last Thursday, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MS-13) introduced an amendment requiring the Justice Department to “retain, preserve, and compile” all Epstein-related records and report back to Congress within 60 days. The amendment passed out of committee unanimously.

Other Democrats haven’t fared as well.

On Monday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) proposed a similar amendment in the House, with a tighter 30-day reporting window. Republicans shot it down in committee. Only one crossed the aisle to support it: Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina — a Trump ally who also happened to be Nikki Haley’s lone congressional backer in the 2024 primary.

“It was a procedural vote,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told Benny Johnson. “We voted against Democrats having House floor control,” not against transparency itself.

And then there’s Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) — the man who once, in all earnestness, asked Navy Admiral Robert Willard in 2010 if adding additional personnel to a military base on Guam might cause the island to “tip over and capsize.” Other greatest hits include the long and convoluted House floor speech he gave apologizing for repeatedly using “the M-word” — midget — in a similarly strange floor speech.

This time, Johnson released a solo guitar-and-vocal act remaking Jason Isbell’s "Dreamsicle” to somehow be about releasing the Epstein files. It is deeply cringe-inspiring and very much worth a watch.

The partisan sniping could give Republicans reason to shut it all down, but internet anger that seemed ready to ebb on Monday came roaring back Tuesday, with MAGA influencers like Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk disavowing the news that he was “done talking about Epstein for the time being.”

“I like Pam,” the speaker told Benny Johnson on Tuesday. “I think she’s done a good job. We need the DOJ focusing on the major priorities. ... I’m anxious to get this behind us.”

That may be exactly what the administration needs: Do more, and do it fast.

Before last week’s botched rollout, the Justice Department might have avoided this mess by releasing what it could — files that fell short of confirming an intelligence-backed blackmail ring but at least signaled transparency. That window has closed. A limited release won’t cut it any more.

Now the stakes are higher.

Testimony may be required. Non-explicit video evidence might need to be made public. A full data dump could be on the table. In a Monday interview with Benny Johnson, Lara Trump teased as much: “He is going to want to set things right as well. I believe that there will probably be more coming on this, and I believe anything that they are able to release ... I believe they’ll probably try to get out, sooner rather than later. They hear it and understand it.”

But will that be enough?

Every day the White House waits, the harder this story becomes to contain.

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