President Donald Trump was eager to claim victory this week after the record-long US government shutdown ended on his terms. But almost immediately, the White House was forced to battle a familiar bogeyman: Jeffrey Epstein.
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A trove of emails released by Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday reignited questions about Trump’s relationship with the disgraced financier and how much the president knew about Epstein’s alleged abuse of girls.
While the White House swiftly dismissed the effort as a Democratic smear campaign, the headline-grabbing messages underscored a potential vulnerability for Trump that could shadow the president and his Republican Party into next year’s midterm congressional election.
Trump has weathered controversies that would have sunk many politicians. But the Epstein saga has proven to be a persistent liability that disrupts Trump’s message discipline and complicates his effort to keep his coalition focused on policy rather than scandal.
Many of Trump’s most loyal supporters believe the government is withholding sensitive documents about Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, that would reveal his ties to powerful public figures.
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A handful of Republicans have broken ranks to join Democrats seeking a full documents release, drawing a rebuke from Trump, who called them “soft and foolish”.