Vote to release Epstein files scrapped by Republican leadership
Mike Johnson last week became one of the most senior Republicans to call on the US president to release 'everything' related to the paedophile financier.
But on Monday, Mr Johnson's stance on the issue appeared to have softened, with the top Republican saying the administration needed 'space' to resolve the matter.
'My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing, and if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we'll look at that,' Mr Johnson told reporters.
He added: 'But I don't think we're at that point right now because we agree with the president.'
Last week House Republicans offered a resolution calling for the so-called Epstein files to be made public, although the resolution carries no legal weight.
The notable gear shift in Mr Johnson's approach comes weeks after Mr Trump angered his Maga base when a department of justice review concluded Epstein had no 'client list' and had died by suicide in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.
With pressure to release the Epstein files intensifying, Mr Trump on Thursday said he had directed Pam Bondi, the attorney general, to ask a court to release grand jury testimony about Epstein.
On Monday the White House removed the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from the pool of reporters covering the president's upcoming trip to Scotland, days after the paper published a story alleging Mr Trump had written a 'bawdy' letter to Epstein for his birthday in 2003.
The US president claimed the letter, which is said to have included a drawing of a naked woman, was 'fake' and insisted he had never 'wrote a picture' in his life.
Mr Trump filed a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the paper last week, which named Rupert Murdoch and the two reporters who broke the story as defendants.
Tarini Parti, a White House reporter for the WSJ, who was not one of the journalists to have written the story, had been scheduled to serve as the print pooler for the final two days of Mr Trump's four-day trip to his golf courses in Turnberry and Aberdeen.
On Monday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told Politico that the White House had removed her from the trip.
'As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,' Ms Leavitt said.
'Due to the Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the 13 outlets on board. Every news organisation in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.'
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