'Their own worst enemies': Michael Cohen reveals Trump's biggest mistake on Epstein issue

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said Wednesday that only releasing the documents related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein can end the swirl of conspiracy theories.

During an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday, Cohen delivered a clear message to Trump: “Release the file.”

Here's a file sitting on [Attorney General] Pam Bondi's desk, the one that Kash Patel was just talking about, the one that we've all been talking about. There is a file of documents that have been put together by law enforcement agents for," Cohen said.

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Cohen addressed a spectrum of speculation surrounding Trump’s connection to Epstein, saying, "If you are a Trump supporter, it's all nonsense. If you are a Trump detractor, oh, Trump is guilty. He's guilty. ... I don’t ascribe to either of those.”

He continued: “I want to see the facts. I want to see the documents… they should release the file.”

Asked what Trump is thinking about the controversy, Cohen said: “I’m sure he’s angry because he wants this to go away. There are more important things that he wants to talk about, more important to him may not be important to us, but there are,” Cohen said, listing items like the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." He blamed Trump's inability to defeat the news cycle on people around the president giving him bad advice and consistent efforts to deflect from the issue.

"All it's doing is fueling the conversation. They are their own worst enemies right now. They are the ones that are fueling this conversation," Cohen said. "They'd like to turn around and say, 'oh, it's the Democrats.' ... This has been something for years now that Republicans have been on the attack, that this is all about some elite Democratic cabal of child sex traffickers and pedophiles. No, that's not what it is. And now they have to deal with the consequences of their actions."

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Cohen criticized Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) decision to send the House away on an early summer recess, describing it as a calculated diversion.

“Mike Johnson just delivered for the president by now releasing the House on an early summer vacation, by the way, at our expense, the taxpayers. What he did is he gave him a lifeline that this isn't going to go on and they're not going to talk about this all the way until September 2nd when they return," Cohen said.

Cohen expressed skepticism about Epstein's associate and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell being deposed in August. He noted that her ongoing legal situation would likely prevent her from testifying, and recommended invoking the Fifth Amendment.

“I don’t believe that she’s going to be able to speak. She has an appeal going on right now. And so her lawyers, and I know that they're very good, should probably turn around and say to just take the Fifth on everything. You have an active case going on.”

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