Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump amid growing bipartisan calls to release all documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Speaking at a press event in Canton, Ohio on July 28, Vance said the president has “nothing to hide” and fully supports transparency in the case.
“Donald J. Trump, I’m telling you, he’s got nothing to hide. His administration has got nothing to hide, and that’s why he’s been an advocate for full transparency,” Vance stated.
The remarks come as the Trump administration faces pressure from both Republicans and Democrats to make public the federal case records and grand jury testimony tied to Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking.
Earlier this month, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to push for the release of grand jury materials. While a federal judge in Florida rejected one of the administration’s requests on July 23, two additional motions are still under review in Manhattan federal court.
Vance criticized the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, accusing them of failing to properly investigate Epstein. “The attorney general is hard at work on that issue right now,” he said. “It takes time to assemble all the information.”
The Vice President’s comments follow backlash from Trump’s own MAGA base after the Justice Department concluded that Epstein died by suicide and reportedly did not maintain a “client list”—a finding that contradicted previous claims by Bondi.
Vance himself has a history of emphasizing the need for clarity in the Epstein case. In a 2021 post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote:
“Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring? And then that guy died mysteriously in a jail? And now we just don’t talk about it.”
He also reiterated the need for public disclosure during an October 2024 interview with podcast host Theo Von, saying, “Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list.”
However, Vance’s stance has recently been questioned. Von publicly asked him, “What changed?”—a reference to Vance’s previous demands for disclosure.
Adding to the controversy, a New York Times report recently cited former Epstein employee Maria Farmer, who told law enforcement in 1996 that she saw Trump in Epstein’s office and recalled Epstein telling him, “No, no. She’s not here for you.”
Meanwhile, Trump has attempted to shift focus away from the Epstein controversy, but new scrutiny arose following a Wall Street Journal report claiming he sent Epstein a lewd letter for his 50th birthday. Trump has denied the report and filed a lawsuit against the publication.
As legal proceedings continue, the administration faces mounting demands to release any remaining files that could shed further light on one of the most infamous criminal cases of the century.