Oath Keepers Founder Pardoned By Trump Warns Of ‘Trouble' Over Lack Of Epstein Files
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right group the Oath Keepers, has joined a growing chorus of MAGA voices who have expressed anger that Trump hasn't released more information about Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in 2019 before he was set to face trial for sex crimes.
'I believe 90% of his own base understands that Epstein was up to something and we know that's the tip of the iceberg,' Rhodes told a crowd at a Comfort Inn in Texas last week, the Daily Beast first reported on Tuesday.
Rhodes was referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi's announcement earlier this month that documents related to Epstein ― including potential information on his co-conspirators ― don't exist. Trump, a longtime friend of Epstein, has blamed Democrats over what he calls a 'hoax.'
'It's really disheartening to see President Trump just declare that to be a hoax,' Rhodes said. 'I don't think it is. And I think it's going to cause him trouble in his own base. It already is.'
Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack and was pardoned by Trump along with more than 1,500 other rioters. Rhodes and his fellow Oath Keepers had planned to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election by any means necessary, including using an arsenal of guns that they brought from across the country if Trump had invoked the Insurrection Act that day.
Trump falsely claimed his poll numbers have 'gone up, significantly' following the lack of Epstein files.
'My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain 'troublemakers,'' Trump wrote Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) canceled upcoming House votes on Tuesday and is sending lawmakers home early for a five-week recess to block a bipartisan effort to force a vote on releasing files on Epstein.
On Tuesday, Trump again downplayed his role with Epstein.
'We had the Greatest Six Months of any President in the History of our Country, and all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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