Trump accused of ‘running scared’ as GOP scrambles to shut down Epstein files vote before summer recess: Live

Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton questioned whether the Trump administration’s release of thousands of files on Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination was truly about transparency – or driven by another motive.

In a statement early Tuesday morning, Sharpton said the unsealing of the files was “not about transparency or justice.”

“It’s a desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the Maga base,” he said.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter has urged Donald Trump to release the full, unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files after thousands of documents surrounding the civil rights activist’s assassination were unsealed.

Bernice King, 62, issued a blunt request to the president after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release of more than 230,000 pages tied to MLK’s 1968 murder, promising “complete transparency” over the case.

“Now, do the Epstein files,” King tweeted on Monday evening, along with a photograph of her father.

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Maria Farmer alleged that Donald Trump and the financier engaged in “locker room talk” in the sex offender’s office in 1995.

Farmer, who on Sunday said she twice told the FBI about Trump’s ties to Epstein, spoke to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday after the White House denied the president had ever visited Epstein’s office.

The woman, who was 25 years old at the time, accused Trump of standing over her, smirking, in a “very imposing way” inside the office.

Farmer told Burnett that Epstein told Trump, “She’s not here for you, follow me.”

Farmer said that Trump then made a “vulgar” comment that she speculated may be “locker room talk in the 1990s.”

“He made a joke to Epstein: ‘I thought she was 16,’” she added.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

Stephen Colbert had a very blunt message for President Donald Trump after the president celebrated CBS’s cancellation of The Late Show.

In his Monday monologue, Colbert brought up a Truth Social post Trump made on Friday, where he had written: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”

Responding to his post, Colbert said: “How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?”

Looking into the “Eloquence Cam,” the talk show host did not pull his punches, telling the president: “Go f*** yourself.”

After years of peddling conspiracy theories about the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Donald Trump is now attempting to shift focus away from the case and his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

The Trump administration continues to face backlash after a Department of Justice and FBI memo released last week stated that there was no evidence that the disgraced financier, who socialised with royalty and celebrities and was accused of running a large network of underage girls for sex, had a “client list.”

While judges, court staff, and legal representatives have been excluded, The Independent has listed some of the names that appear in the legal records connected to Epstein:

Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger made a dig at President Donald Trump Monday night as the administration faces backlash over its handling of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Trump releases MLK Jr files…. Didn’t limit it to ‘pertinent’ and ‘grand jury.’ So do the same for Epstein,” Kinzinger, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, wrote on X.

Kinzinger was referring to the Trump administration’s push to release federal documents on famous assassinations like civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, while limiting the information disclosed in Epstein’s case.

The feds released more than 230,000 pages of documents related to King’s shooting on Monday.

The Trump administration has faced backlash, including from its own base, after it said earlier this month there was never any so-called Epstein client list, which people suspected had the names of powerful people who may have partaken in the wealthy financier’s crimes.

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social last week, “Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed a motion with a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s case the next day.

Trump been accused of attempting to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein case by peddling a conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama “manufactured” allegations of Russian interference into Trump’s 2016 campaign. Late Monday, Trump said that there was “irrefutable evidence” that “Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX.”

Refuting the president’s claim of a “Democratic-led conspiracy theory,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters: “Why do we think President Joe Biden or President Barack Obama’s names are being invoked? Because Donald Trump is running scared.”

On Monday, the Trump administration released more than 6,000 files on the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, which saw the daughter of the slain civil rights activist, Bernice King, tweet: “Now, do the Epstein files.”