Trump insists he has ‘nothing to do’ with sex offender Epstein

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump denied on Tuesday that he had anything to do with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as US lawmakers were expected to vote on releasing records related to the disgraced financier.

“As far as the Epstein files...I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. “I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.”Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating fell to 38 per cent, the lowest since his return to power, with Americans unhappy about his handling of the cost of living and the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.The four-day poll, which concluded on Monday, comes as Trump’s grip on his Republican Party shows signs of weakening.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday is voting on a measure to force the release of Justice Department files on Epstein -- a move that Trump opposed for months and which has seen one of his onetime closest supporters in Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, turn critic. Trump reversed his position on Sunday as lawmakers prepared to move forward without him. US lawmakers are expected to vote for the release of government records on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in defiance of President Donald Trump´s attempts to keep a lid on one of the country´s most notorious scandals.

After months of resistance, behind-the-scenes pressure and frenzied lobbying against making the material public, Trump threw in the towel on Sunday as it became clear that much of the Republican Party in Congress was poised to defy him.

The House of Representatives now looks all but certain to approve -- perhaps even unanimously -- the Epstein Files Transparency Act compelling publication of unclassified documents detailing the investigation into the disgraced financier´s operations and 2019 death in custody, ruled a suicide. Lawmakers say the public deserves answers in a case with over 1,000 alleged victims.

Trump says the files will expose powerful Democrats´ connections to Epstein, but the Republican president himself faces uncomfortable scrutiny over his years-long friendship with the man alleged to have supplied rich and influential men with underaged women.

Killing the bill in the Senate after a lopsided House vote would be awkward to defend, and Trump has pledged not to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.

But expectations of damning new revelations could prove premature. The Justice Department has wide latitude hold back any information if release “would jeopardise an active federal investigation” and Trump ordered officials in a widely criticized intervention last week to probe Epstein´s ties with high-profile Democrats.

The saga has exposed rare fissures in support for the Republican leader, who campaigned on releasing the files but changed course after taking office, accusing Democrats of pushing a “hoax.”

After multiple attempts by Republican leaders to block the vote, all Democrats and four Republicans signed a “discharge petition” -- an extraordinary procedure forcing the bill to the House floor.

Trump said on social media late on Sunday that Republicans should vote to release the files “because we have nothing to hide.”