Trump’s closest advisors fear that even Epstein files releases won’t quash interest in the scandal: report

President Donald Trump’s advisors worry that releasing the Epstein files will not be enough to end public interest in the scandal surrounding the deceased sex offender, which has already consumed national attention for years, according to a new report.

Several White House officials telegraphed their concerns to Politico ahead of an upcoming House vote on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release its records on Epstein. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the vote could come as early as Tuesday.

“Are people ever going to be satisfied,” one unnamed White House official griped to the outlet. “No, because people in this country genuinely believe that the federal government is in possession of a list of pedophiles who work with Jeffrey Epstein. And that is just not true.”

The fast-approaching House vote comes after Trump and Republicans spent months staunchly opposed to releasing the Epstein files.

But the president recently changed his tune. On Sunday, he urged GOP lawmakers to advance the bill, writing on Truth Social, “We have nothing to hide…And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson told The Independent, “Trump has been consistently calling for transparency related to the Epstein files -- by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have. The Democrats knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them until they thought they could weaponize the files against the President.”

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Trump’s recent reversal resulted from his recognition that, with or without his blessing, the vote was an “inevitable reality,” a White House aide told Politico. The upcoming vote was triggered by a House discharge petition, which passed with the help of several Republicans.

“The strategy now is give Republicans a perceived win,” the official said. “So they can go back to their districts and say, ‘I voted to release the Epstein files.’”

With Trump’s backing, the bill is now expected to pass in both chambers of Congress — and the president said he will sign it.

Trump, however, remains embittered that his own party has “essentially laid a trap he cannot avoid,” the outlet reported. This is partly due to the belief among administration officials that there is never left to be unveiled.

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The idea that an incriminating list exists and is being withheld by the government “is a fallacy, like, it’s not true,” a White House official said.

Whether or not Epstein kept a client list has been hotly contested for years. In July, the DOJ and FBI concluded in July that it never existed. The same month, after falling out with the president, Elon Musk wrote on X that “so many powerful people want that list suppressed.” It’s unclear whether such a list would be included within the DOJ’s files.

Last week, the House Oversight Committee released a trove of 20,000 documents from Epstein’s private estate. It included emails from Epstein claiming Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours” with a sex trafficking victim.

The president has denied he did anything wrong — and maintained that he severed ties with Epstein years ago. A White House spokesperson previously told The Independent that “These emails prove literally nothing.”

“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do. All of his friends were Democrats,” Trump told reporters on Monday.

Still, though the Republican president believes Democrats out-manoeuvred his party, a person with close ties to the White House told Politico.

“POTUS doesn’t like to be told what to do or give Dems a win, so he’s been fighting it,” the unnamed person said.