Donald Trump’s sudden about-face on Jeffrey Epstein—whose death in jail, during Trump’s first term, has been a particular fixation among his supporters—seems to have shaken some of his base’s devotion, prompting the president to wonder in a Truth Social post over the weekend, “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’”
One lawmaker trying to get answers is six-term congressman Marc Veasey, a Texas Democrat who on Monday introduced a resolution demanding the Trump administration “immediately” release all files related to Epstein, convicted fixer Ghislaine Maxwell, and other associates. “Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he wrote in a post announcing the measure, borrowing a rhetorical flourish from Trump.
The resolution—which also calls for House inquiries into the matter—may face an uphill path in the chamber, where Speaker Mike Johnson has affirmed his fealty to the president. Johnson has also expressed faith in Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been singled out by conspiracy hounds for failing to produce an Epstein client list that was supposedly sitting on her desk for review. Still, Veasey told me he’s prepared to use “whatever techniques are available to get it out on the House floor,” where Republicans—many of whom have spent years using Epstein’s death as a shorthand for a deep-state Democratic cover-up—would have to go on record with a vote. “Put up,” he said, “or shut up.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, which has been lightly edited for clarity and length, Veasey discusses his new resolution, the MAGA divide over Epstein, and how Trump’s handling of the situation reflects a broader theme of his presidency: “Trump,” he said, “looks out for really rich people.”
Vanity Fair: Tell me about the thinking behind this resolution.
Congressman Marc Veasey: The biggest thing is to bring transparency around this whole deal with Epstein. For years now, you have people at the highest levels of government, including the president of the United States, who have said that there’s a list of people that have committed crimes—that frequented Epstein Island and partied with Epstein. The president was saying that. So was Kash Patel, who’s now the director of the FBI. That was a claim that was repeatedly made by Dan Bongino. I heard Dan Bongino make the claim myself, because he had a show that was syndicated in the Dallas-Forth Worth area on one of our AM talk stations. So with people at the highest levels of government saying there’s something there, we need for them to be transparent about this and release the files. It’s really that simple. [Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said there there is “no daylight” between the FBI and the Justice Department and that both Patel and Bongino signed off on Bondi’s memo. Patel suggested on social media that reports of a rift between him and Bondi are “conspiracy theories.” Bongino, the deputy FBI director, was reportedly furious with Bondi and his future is unclear, though Trump said he “thinks” he will stay on in his role.]
What are your expectations for this resolution? Obviously, as you mentioned in a post announcing it, no Republicans signed on as cosponsors. Do you expect any Republican support for this?
I actually do think that a lot of Republicans would be supportive of this. We’re going to do everything we can to try to get it out—whatever techniques are available to get it out on the House floor—because, again, they said that something is there. Warren Davidson from Ohio, who has been a big MAGA guy, said himself on one of the cable news shows this afternoon that there’s something there, and there needs to be transparency behind it. So you know, we have voices like that, and voices like mine that are coming together to say, Hey, we need to see these files. I think that’s very important.
I think something else that’s different about this situation versus other ones is that, for some of these claims that Trump has made and his people have made—whether it’s Pizzagate, or Stop the Steal—usually just one side believes it, and it was always something that was just so far out there. This is different. There are a lot of people across the political spectrum—Democrats, Republicans, independents—that are asking me about when these files are going to be released, whenever I’m back in Texas. And so I think that the president’s voice obviously carries a lot of weight, whether you love him or hate him, and he’s put that out there. There needs to be some transparency. People need to see the files and match those up with the words and the things and accusations that he and the people around him were making for the last couple of years.
Do you think the administration is covering something up?
I don’t know if they’re covering something up or not. But for some reason, they don’t want these files to be released. And the way you get around that is to release the files, obviously. I do think that it is very strange that they don’t want to release these files, because it would be very easy to do it. And again, all he talked about for the last two years before he got back into the presidency were these files, and how they were going to release these files for the public to see. And nothing’s happened.
Well, part of the strangeness, too, is Trump’s response, right? First, Pam Bondi basically says there are no files. Then, Trump says there are files, but actually it was a Democratic hoax—I mean, it certainly raises eyebrows.
Yeah, it raises a lot of eyebrows. And then, I think too, the other thing the president desperately needs to clear up is just the corruption piece. I mean, whether it’s the Qatari jet, whether it is tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of peoples’ health insurance, there seems to be a prevailing theme that Trump looks out for really rich people. And again, the way he puts that to bed is to release these files. Because, to me, it seems like he’s trying to cover up for something or somebody.
What have you made of the divides that we’re seeing among the MAGA base? There are some folks, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, who are saying they trust the president. But there are some voices in MAGA world who are normally loyal, who also seem to still have questions.
Just like a lot of Democrats, I think the MAGA base is disappointed. Because, again, when you make these claims and all of a sudden, you just want people to shut up and go away—which is basically what he said in his Truth Social post—it makes it seem like there’s something to hide. I don’t blame the MAGA base for being upset. I don’t blame them for being split over this. He was very serious and very vociferous about this during the 2024 campaign, and now all of a sudden, he just is going on Truth Social and telling everybody to move on? None of it makes any sense. So I think that the MAGA base on this one, I think that they’re being conscientious citizens and they want to know, just like Democrats want to know, what’s there and what’s not there.
The administration has options here. They can release the files and say, “We were wrong. There was nothing there.” If that’s the case, all the things that they said were not true. Or there’s something there that the American public needs to see that has to do with serious allegations of child abuse.
Trump has weathered other scandals, whether it’s being convicted of felonies, inciting an insurrection—all these things that would have ended other political careers. Does this feel different?
I think that’s too soon to say. And look, I don’t care if this derails his career or not. I mean, it probably doesn’t. But I want to know the truth behind this, and I know there are millions of other Americans that want to know the truth behind this. The American public deserves to know what these files say. I don’t think this should be a decision that Trump should make in a vacuum. I don’t think this should be a decision that he and Bongino and Patel should make for the rest of the country. One of the things that I said in a previous comment was, “Put up or shut up.” It’s time for them to put up.
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The post The Texas Democrat Trying to Force Trump’s Hand on Epstein: “It Seems Like He’s Trying to Cover Up” appeared first on Vanity Fair.
