US President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers in his own party to vote to release files relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump wrote on Sunday night that Republicans in the House of Representatives should do so because we have nothing to hide.
It is a striking reversal for Trump after weeks of saying the clamour for a vote on the release was a Democratic-driven distraction.
There has been a slow drip feed of documents concerning the disgraced financier by House Democrats, some of which reference Trump, who has always denied any link to Epstein's sex abuse and trafficking.
But details of his and other prominent figures' past relationship with Epstein have fueled speculation and led to a public spat with one of Trump's staunchest supporters.
Potentially dozens of Republicans have now signaled they are willing to break ranks and vote in favour of a bill that would compel the US government to publish all its documents on Epstein.
Supporters of the bill appear to have enough votes for it to pass the House this week, though it is unclear whether it would pass in the Senate, the other chamber of the US Congress.
Epstein, a financier, was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019, in what a coroner later ruled a suicide. He was being held on charges of sex trafficking, having previously been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
The two criminal investigations into Epstein amassed a vast trove of documents including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses, and items confiscated from raids of his various properties. The material that has not yet been made public is often referred to as the Epstein files.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has dismissed the need to release more documents, despite this being a key demand of many of his supporters and some of his key allies.
He recently called it a Democrat-led hoax to deflect attention away from his party's work.
I DON'T CARE! he wrote on his Truth social platform, urging Republicans to get BACK ON POINT.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson made a similar point on Sunday, saying calls to release the files were the entire game plan for opposition Democrats.
Trump was historically photographed at social gatherings with Epstein, but has repeatedly said he severed contact with the financier years before Epstein's 2008 conviction, and was unaware of his criminal activity.
The US president's change of position on the matter comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published three email exchanges associated with Epstein.
Some of those exchanges make references to Trump. In one email, sent in 2011, Epstein writes to Maxwell: I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him.
The White House said on Wednesday that the victim referenced in the email was prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre, who died in April, has publicly stated that she never saw Trump participate in any abuse and asserts that there is no implication of wrongdoing by Trump in these emails.
Hours after the release, House Republicans published a far larger tranche of 20,000 files to counter what they said was a Democratic effort to cherry-pick documents in an attempt to create a fake narrative to slander Trump.
Both Democrats and some Republicans have been backing legislation to release all the documents, known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which aims to force the justice department to release all unclassified records linked to Epstein.
In a letter addressed to Congress, Epstein survivors and Giuffre's family called for US lawmakers to vote in favor of releasing the files.
Concerns regarding Trump's newfound stance have led to growing tensions within his party. As the situation unfolds, both allies and critics will be observing how this controversial topic plays out in the broader context of US politics.
