Trump has 'painted himself into a corner' on Epstein files: analysis

.S. President Donald Trump reacts in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERSKen Cedeno

President Donald Trump has boxed himself into a no-win situation when it comes to the Department of Justice's remaining unreleased evidence pertaining to deceased child predator Jeffrey Epstein.

That's according to New York Magazine columnist Ed Kilgore, who wrote in a Monday essay that Trump has "painted himself into a corner" after relenting in his efforts to keep the Epstein files under wraps. The president announced in a recent Truth Social post that he hoped Republicans in Congress would vote for the bipartisan discharge petition compelling the DOJ to release all remaining documents, saying: "I DON'T CARE!"

"Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory," Trump said of his 2024 victory in which he won the popular vote by 1.5 percent. "Some 'members' of the Republican Party are being 'used,' and we can’t let that happen."

Kilgore chronicled Trump's abrupt about-face on the Epstein files, observing that "he and his agents fought the Epstein Files Transparency Act tooth and nail for months," even to the point of unsuccessfully attempting to get the few Republican co-sponsors like Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to withdraw their names and threatening their political careers for rebuffing his demands. He also pointed out that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) kept the House of Representatives out of session for 54 days and declined to swear in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) as a member of Congress for seven weeks, after Grijalva pledged to be the decisive 218th signature on the petition.

"When that gambit failed, the conventional wisdom held that the forced disclosure bill would clear the House but would then be buried or voted down in the Senate," Kilgore wrote. "But if Trump wants House Republicans to vote for the bill now, why not Senate Republicans too?"

"And more to the point, if Trump actually would prefer that the files be released in full in order to burn the Democrats alleged to have associated with Epstein, why doesn’t he just instruct Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the files today, making any congressional pressure moot?" He continued. "It really is a mystery."

Kilgore's point is valid. Business Insider legal correspondent Jacob Shamsian noted that in the House Oversight Committee's deposition of former Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta (who was also the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida who struck an infamous plea deal with Epstein in 2008), the former prosecutor told lawmakers that the DOJ has the legal authority as "custodian" to release the files in its own — without any action from Congress.

"Documents that aren't under court orders can be — if there is no prohibition, then whoever is the custodian of that document can proceed as they see fit," Acosta said. "That's my opinion. I'm not speaking for the executive branch. But absent a prohibition, a custodian can proceed."

Click here to read Kilgore's full essay (subscription required).

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