US president says he backs efforts to release documents related to late sex offender because ‘we have nothing to hide’

A top Democrat has accused Donald Trump of “panicking” after the US president told his fellow Republicans in Congress to vote for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a sudden reversal of his earlier position.

Robert Garcia, the ranking member on of the House oversight committee, which released a tranche of new Epstein documents last week, said that Trump “has tried everything to kill our Jeffrey Epstein investigation”.

“Now [Trump’s] panicking and has realized he is about to lose this Epstein vote to force the Department of Justice to release the files,” Garcia said in a statement.

“Let’s be crystal clear: Trump has the power to release all the files today,” Garcia added. “But instead, he wants to continue this cover-up and launch bogus new investigations to deflect and slow down our investigation. It won’t work. We will get justice for the survivors.”