Trump: I'm Ordering Epstein Investigations Into Democrats

President Trump on Friday doubled down on his assertion that all this controversy about Jeffrey Epstein is a "hoax" cooked up by Democrats to distract from their "disastrous" policies and the government shutdown. And he also threatened to order up his own investigations into Epstein's ties with prominent Democrats. Details:

• In a Truth Social post, Trump said he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI "to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, (JP Morgan Chase) and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him."
• "This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats," Trump wrote. "Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish," he wrote in another post. (He's likely referring to Rep. Lauren Boebert, among others.) "Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the (Democrats') problem, not the (Republicans') problem!"

• His comments come with the House set to vote as early as next week on a measure calling for all of the Jeffrey Epstein files to be released. Politico reports that GOP leaders are bracing for "mass defections," with possibly up to 100 Republican members voting in favor. However, ABC News notes that the legislation looks doomed in the Senate, and Trump could veto it anyway.
• Trump's comments also come after newly released emails from Epstein suggested Trump "knew about the girls" and Epstein's sex-trafficking.