Trump document dumps raise questions of distraction

The Hill

24-07-2025

The Trump administration has moved to release tranches of documents from controversial past investigations amid increasing scrutiny into its handling of the Epstein investigation — prompting criticism that the White House is seeking a distraction.
Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released 114 pages of documents related to the investigation into Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election — something President Trump raised again this week when he said former President Obama was guilty of treason in connection with the matter.
Then on Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi released an Office of Inspector General review into Hillary Clinton's private email server, sharing it with Congress.
Hours later, Bondi and Gabbard released 230,000 pages related to the investigation into the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination.
'It doesn't take a whole lot of guesswork to say, 'Gee, do you think they kind of, maybe, sort of want to change the subject?'' said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has called for the release of financial records related to Jeffrey Epstein, given his numerous wire transfers.
'I'm just saying — just saying — maybe. Possibly. Conceivably. That could be it.'
The flood of information has not gone unnoticed.
'They're not dumping documents. They're making up lies,' said Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
'The Trump administration is constantly promising conspiracy and then failing to deliver, which is what they did with Epstein, which is now why we're creating a whole new conspiracy, which is that President Obama is guilty of treason. It's a Ponzi scheme of conspiracy theories.'
When asked about Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump pivoted to talking about his predecessor.
'I don't really follow that too much. It's sort of a witch hunt. Just a continuation of the witch hunt. The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold.'
In a rare public statement, Obama called the accusations against him an effort at distraction.
'Our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,' an Obama spokesperson said.
'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.'
It was Gabbard's Wednesday release of an additional classified report on the 2016 election put together by the House Intelligence Committee that most alarmed Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
'The only thing not being released is the Epstein files. But today, today's action sets a new low for a DNI,' Warner said, using an abbreviation for director of national intelligence.
'Of course it's a distraction. But this one is so grossly over the top, that it will put people in harm's way,' he added, noting that the House report references intelligence sources and methods.
Release of the documents gave MAGA influencers who were angry over the lack of Epstein disclosures for weeks a new topic — and grievance — to push. After Gabbard's first release, MAGA personalities called to arrest Obama administration officials and even the former president himself.
A study by Media Matters found that Fox News had mentioned Obama three times more than Epstein since Gabbard released her report Friday. Conversations about the former president spiked overall — more than doubling in the days after the Friday release.
But despite some conservative voices elevating Gabbard's releases, they have gotten mixed results.
While some have called the releases an important form of transparency and a delivery on a campaign promise, that has not negated their interest in Epstein.
House GOP leaders, for instance, moved to send members home for August recess a day early after disputes about the Epstein matter — and an unwillingness to face Democratic votes trying to squeeze Republicans on the Epstein issue — stymied the House. And the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday voted to subpoena Epstein's convicted ex-girlfriend Maxwell, following a motion from Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.).
In a separate vote late Wednesday, another Oversight panel moved to subpoena the files, as well as information on other figures.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who has called for the release of numerous classified files and is leading an investigation into the JFK assassination, disputed that the timing had anything to do with Epstein.
'I know for a fact that the MLK documents were in the queue and scheduled for release, and so the timing was not obviously related,' Luna said.
'The MLK stuff was slated for release. … And then the Russia collusion evidence — documents of the hoax, actually, I also heard was scheduled for release. So I think that they're just trying to show that they're very transparent.'
Luna said it was proper to subpoena Maxwell, though she added that it would be improper for the Epstein associate to receive a pardon.
'I maintain my same position — haven't changed. We should see the documents,' Luna said.
For his part, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) swiftly released the Clinton documents shared with him by Bondi.
'When you've been waiting eight years to get documents, you release them as soon as you get them,' he said.
Still, others see the issue as a problem of the administration's own making after years of embracing and promoting conspiracy theories, including those about Epstein.
'They've got a problem,' a source close to the White House said on the sentiment inside the Trump team.
'It's a little bit of the chickens coming home to roost. When you populate your administration [full] of people who propagated this and then all of a sudden, they hold the keys to the kingdom, now the true believers who aren't in government want to say, 'OK, open it up.' At some point this is where the ideal of the campaign, the promises made in the campaign, actually come home to roost. There may be nothing there, but they created a cloud in expectations that there was something there,' the source close to the White House said.
'Whenever Trump is truly in trouble, he changes the story by whatever means necessary,' added one longtime GOP lobbyist.
It's not clear that the strategy is working.
'They are releasing these other files, but they're refusing to release the files they promised their base, the Epstein files. I think they're digging their hole deeper,' said Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a former House Intelligence Chair amid the GOP investigation into the 2016 election.
He noted that the latest information implies intelligence leaders mishandled the investigation by noting that Russia never accessed vote totals — something that was never in dispute.
'They're damned by the implication that they're pushing out all this other stuff, and they're still refusing to release the Epstein files.'