During Mr. Trump's first term, his labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, resigned following criticism of his handling of Epstein's 2008 plea deal when he was a federal prosecutor in Florida. Epstein served 13 months in a jail work-release program after he was originally accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls and young women.

Speaker Mike Johnson of Shreveport recessed the House a day early as the debate over the sex offender Jeffrey Epsein's case escalated.

A key House committee is looking into the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking crimes.

Johnson said he wouldn’t allow a vote on a measure calling on the White House to release all the files until after Labor Day at the earliest to give President Trump “space” to release some

Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson said there will not be a vote before Congress' August recess on a resolution that calls on the Trump administration to release more files related to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said the lack of transparency is reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live beyond the reach of the judicial system.

Several GOP senators spoke out Thursday, a day after the Wall Street Journal reported Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche informed Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files that the Department of Justice and the FBI reviewed.