White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, usually eager to spar with the press, suddenly had nothing to say when pressed on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
As President Donald Trump’s attack dog, Miller, 40, regularly responds to questions from the press with long rants, often shouting over TV hosts who try to rein him in.
But while speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Miller’s usual bravado vanished when he was asked about Congress’s successful vote on a bill to release all files related to the convicted sex trafficker.
A reporter asked Miller whether the bill—one Trump had spent months trying to derail once its passage became inevitable— had arrived on the president’s desk and whether he planned to sign it.
“So, any questions about that, I have nothing to add to today. I think the White House comms shop has already answered all those questions,” Miller said, before moving on to another question.
A senior White House official told multiple outlets earlier in the day that “the bill will be signed whenever it gets to the White House,” offering no exact timeline.
Trump, whose own name has appeared in the files, having once been a friend of Epstein, told reporters Monday, “Sure, I would,” when asked whether he would sign the bill.
It marks a major reversal for the 79-year-old president, who had labeled the controversy a Democratic “hoax” and tried until last week to stop Republican lawmakers from voting for the bill.
Another top Trump goon, Attorney General Pam Bondi, struggled with an Epstein files question on Wednesday.
Trump’s flip-flopping on the Epstein scandal is especially awkward for the attorney general, as her department released a contentious memo in July declaring that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted” and “we did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Asked on Wednesday what had changed, Bondi struggled to explain the dramatic reversal.
“Information that has come for, um, information. There’s new information, additional information,” she said, not explaining exactly what new information she had.
“We will continue to follow the law to investigate any leads.”
Some Democrats and Republicans have warned that even if Trump signs the Epstein files bill, his administration may not release all documents.
The bill allows the Justice Department to withhold information if it “would jeopardize an active federal investigation.” Conveniently, Bondi last week said she would launch investigations into Democrats who were once associated with the convicted child sex offender.
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