Jeffries says Republicans are trying to ‘cover up for the pedophiles’ amid standstill vote over ex-Trump friend Epstein

The House Democratic leader’s remarks come days after Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, refused to say whether or not the FBI found reported images of Trump with half-naked women.

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, scolded his Republican colleagues amid a standstill on a vote to release FBI files related to convicted sex trafficker–and former friend of President Donald Trump–Jeffrey Epstein.

“Mike Johnson and this group continue to cover up for the pedophiles. That’s crazy,” Jeffries told Jen Psaki, host of MSNBC’s “The Briefing” on Wednesday.

The vote to unseal the Epstein files has become a political vulnerability for Republicans, given the billionaire pedophile’s past relationship with Trump. Though the Trump administration initially committed to releasing the FBI files, which was a campaign promise Trump made in the 2024 presidential election.

Epstein was federally charged for his sex trafficking of young and underage women in 2019 and committed suicide in his jail cell before his trial. He was convicted on state charges in 2008, but was released a year later.

Things took a turn when the Department of Justice issued a memo declaring that the Epstein files would not be released and that a reported client list of Epstein’s did not exist, despite statements suggesting otherwise.

Days later, the Wall Street Journal published the contents of a sexually suggestive letter Trump allegedly gave Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denied that the letter had come from him, despite it sporting his signature. Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the news outlet, though Epstein’s estate provided the letter, which the House Committee on Oversight publicly released.

During a congressional hearing for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi was questioned by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about a report that Epstein showed people photographs of Trump with “half-naked young women.” When Whitehouse asked whether the FBI had found such images during their search of Epstein’s property, Bondi refused to answer.

The U.S. House is just one vote shy of forcing a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Recently elected Democrat Adelita Grijalva from Arizona would be the needed 218th vote; however, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is being accused of purposely not swearing her in. Amid the government shutdown, the House has not been in session since Sept. 19.

“We all know this is about the Epstein files and the fact that Republicans on The Hill for months have been doing Donald Trump’s bidding and trying to hide these Epstein files from the American people, notwithstanding the fact that the victims have called for full transparency so there can be accountability,” said Jeffries.

The Democratic leader noted that Representative-elect Grijalva vowed to vote in favor of a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files, telling Psaki, “That explains, in part, why Republicans have been on vacation for the last several weeks.”