Trump accused of ‘running scared’ as GOP scrambles to shut down Epstein files vote before summer recess: Live – The Independent

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President Donald Trump also released thousands of documents on Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, prompting his daughter Bernice King to tweet: ‘Now, do the Epstein files’
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Donald Trump has been accused of “running scared” over the Jeffrey Epstein case as the Democrats ramp up their demands for the president to release the files tied to the convicted sex offender.
The president has been accused of attempting to distract from the Epstein scandal by peddling a conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama orchestrated the Russia investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign. Late Monday, Trump said that there was “irrefutable evidence” that “Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX.”
Refuting the president’s claim of a “Democratic-led conspiracy theory,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters: “Why do we think President Joe Biden or President Barack Obama‘s names are being invoked? Because Donald Trump is running scared.”
Earlier Monday, the Trump administration also released more than 6,000 files on the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, which saw the daughter of the slain civil rights activist, Bernice King, tweet: “Now, do the Epstein files.”
The White House also removed a Wall Street Journal reporter from joining Trump on his visit to Scotland this week, following the newspaper’s damning accusations that the president sent a bawdy 50th birthday card to Epstein.
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter has urged Donald Trump to release the full, unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files after thousands of documents surrounding the civil rights activist’s assassination were unsealed.
Bernice King, 62, issued a blunt request to the president after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release of more than 230,000 pages tied to MLK’s 1968 murder, promising “complete transparency” over the case.
“Now, do the Epstein files,” King tweeted on Monday evening, along with a photograph of her father.
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Jeffrey Epstein accuser Maria Farmer alleged that Donald Trump and the financier engaged in “locker room talk” in the sex offender’s office in 1995.
Farmer, who on Sunday said she twice told the FBI about Trump’s ties to Epstein, spoke to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday after the White House denied the president had ever visited Epstein’s office.
The woman, who was 25 years old at the time, accused Trump of standing over her, smirking, in a “very imposing way” inside the office.
Farmer told Burnett that Epstein told Trump, “She’s not here for you, follow me.”
Farmer said that Trump then made a “vulgar” comment that she speculated may be “locker room talk in the 1990s.”
“He made a joke to Epstein: ‘I thought she was 16,’” she added.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Stephen Colbert had a very blunt message for President Donald Trump after the president celebrated CBS’s cancellation of The Late Show.
In his Monday monologue, Colbert brought up a Truth Social post Trump made on Friday, where he had written: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”
Responding to his post, Colbert said: “How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?”
Looking into the “Eloquence Cam,” the talk show host did not pull his punches, telling the president: “Go f*** yourself.”
Shahana Yasmin has more:
After years of peddling conspiracy theories about the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Donald Trump is now attempting to shift focus away from the case and his relationship with the convicted sex offender.
The Trump administration continues to face backlash after a Department of Justice and FBI memo released last week stated that there was no evidence that the disgraced financier, who socialised with royalty and celebrities and was accused of running a large network of underage girls for sex, had a “client list.”
While judges, court staff, and legal representatives have been excluded, The Independent has listed some of the names that appear in the legal records connected to Epstein:
Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger made a dig at President Donald Trump Monday night as the administration faces backlash over its handling of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Trump releases MLK Jr files…. Didn’t limit it to ‘pertinent’ and ‘grand jury.’ So do the same for Epstein,” Kinzinger, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, wrote on X.
Kinzinger was referring to the Trump administration’s push to release federal documents on famous assassinations like civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, while limiting the information disclosed in Epstein’s case.
The feds released more than 230,000 pages of documents related to King’s shooting on Monday.
The Trump administration has faced backlash, including from its own base, after it said earlier this month there was never any so-called Epstein client list, which people suspected had the names of powerful people who may have partaken in the wealthy financier’s crimes.
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social last week, “Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed a motion with a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s case the next day.
Trump been accused of attempting to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein case by peddling a conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama “manufactured” allegations of Russian interference into Trump’s 2016 campaign. Late Monday, Trump said that there was “irrefutable evidence” that “Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX.”
Refuting the president’s claim of a “Democratic-led conspiracy theory,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters: “Why do we think President Joe Biden or President Barack Obama’s names are being invoked? Because Donald Trump is running scared.”
On Monday, the Trump administration released more than 6,000 files on the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, which saw the daughter of the slain civil rights activist, Bernice King, tweet: “Now, do the Epstein files.”
The Justice Department asked a federal court on July 18, 2025, to unseal grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s case.
The direction from President Donald Trump came after weeks of frustration among some far-right groups over his administration’s refusal to release the complete and unredacted “Epstein files.”
Epstein’s 2019 arrest and death became a central focus for QAnon followers, who saw them as proof of a hidden global elite engaged in child trafficking and protected by powerful institutions.
The release – or withholding – of the Epstein files is often cited within QAnon movement circles as evidence of a broader cover-up by the so-called “deep state.”
Some followers of the MAGA – Make America Great Again – movement and the Republican Party believe in the false claim that the United States is secretly controlled by a cabal of elites who are paedophiles, sex traffickers and satanists.
Over time, what started as a baseless conspiracy on obscure platforms has migrated into the mainstream. It has influenced rhetoric and policy debates, and even reshaped the American political landscape.
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