'Dumpster fire': Senator explains what makes Trump DOJ's response to Epstein so 'weird'

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) blasted the ongoing controversy surrounding documents related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a series of posts on the social platform X Thursday, warning that the scandal is turning into “a full-on DC dumpster fire right now.”

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump’s name appears in the Epstein files, prompting renewed scrutiny over his connections to the disgraced financier.

In his posts Thursday morning, Whitehouse argued: “The U.S. House of Representatives has shut down and fled over Trump/Epstein.”

READ MORE: Republican power-struggle is 'the game to watch' as Trump vanishes 'before our eyes': expert

“The administration appears not to have been truthful about Trump in the Epstein files, and not to have investigated financial leads," he continued.

Whitehouse highlighted new information from Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), noting the discovery of $1.5 billion in Epstein‑related “Suspicious Activity Reports” at the Treasury, and urged a full FBI probe.

The Rhode Island Republican’s remarks came just moments before Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempts to compel the Justice Department to release the documents.

Whitehouse added in his post: “Over at DOJ, the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is personally visiting Ghislaine Maxwell in prison. Weird? Very.”

READ MORE: 'Deal with it': Top Senate Republican gives Mike Johnson an ultimatum over Epstein scandal

Whitehouse questioned the unusual move, noting that it’s typically prosecutors, not the deputy attorney general, who handle witness interviews. He asked whether the deputy attorney general was acting in an official DOJ capacity or "de facto as Trump’s personal criminal attorney, Tom Hagen style?"

He expressed concern that Maxwell may be pressured into crafting a Trump‑friendly narrative, with or without a pardon offer, as she is also pivotal in Trump’s pending lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over a disputed letter in an Epstein birthday book.

The senator concluded with a warning: “What a tangled web they’re weaving. Look out; sometimes it’s the cover-up that gets you more than the original wrongdoing.”

READ MORE: (Opinion) What Trump does not want revealed now — or anytime in the future