(The Hill) – More than half of all registered voters say they disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a new poll found.
The Emerson College Polling survey, released Friday, found 51 percent said they disapprove of the administration’s handling of the Epstein files, while 16 percent approve and a third said they’re neutral. The results come as Trump has struggled to turn the page on this controversy that has lingered for a few weeks since the Justice Department (DOJ) indicated it wouldn’t release additional files related to the case.
Trump advocated for the release of files referencing an alleged “client list” throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, and he issued an executive order soon after taking office calling for the declassification of certain federal secrets. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in February that the list was sitting on her desk for review.
But the DOJ received significant scrutiny, including from members of Trump’s own base of supporters, over a memo that it released earlier this month declaring that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 and didn’t keep a client list. Epstein killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, but conspiracy theories have spread that he may have been murdered.
Multiple evaluations conducted since Epstein’s death found he died by suicide.
The DOJ also said that it didn’t plan to release additional information from the files to not reveal personal details about alleged victims of Epstein’s actions. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who previously argued that more information from the Epstein story existed that the government had admitted, said that he had seen the entirety of the files and concluded that Epstein killed himself.
But that has satisfied many of Trump’s supporters who have called for the release of the documents, while Democrats have jumped on the controversy to call for their release as Trump’s administration faces ongoing questions.
Trump himself has faced even more controversy following a Wall Street Journal report that Bondi informed him in May that his name appeared multiple times in files related to Epstein, along with numerous other high-profile individuals. The inclusion of an individual’s name in the files is not alone an indication of any wrongdoing.
Trump has expressed frustration at the continued focus on the files and raised questions that he may be attempting to distract attention from the controversy with the release of documents on various controversial past investigations.
The Emerson results are in line with other findings from polls like Reuters-Ipsos and Quinnipiac University that have found majorities of voters disapproving of Trump’s handling of the files.
The poll also found a plurality of 42 percent believe Epstein was murdered, while only 20 percent believe he committed suicide and 38 percent said they weren’t sure. The percentage who say he was murdered is 4 points less than the percentage who said so five years ago.
The poll was conducted from July 21 to 22 among 1,400 registered voters. The credibility interval, similar to margin of error, was 2.5 points.
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