After months of resisting pressure to release files related to the case of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump has abruptly reversed himself and said he would sign a bill to compel the Justice Department to release all the materials (something he has always had the power to order). There is no question that his about-face is due to a growing revolt in usually loyal Republican ranks — and among his own hardcore political base. It’s too early to tell whether this controversy will cause an implosion in the "Make America Great Again" movement that brought Trump to power. But if it does, there will be a karmic irony in it.

With the bill certain to clear the House, we still don’t know whether the Epstein files implicate Trump in any wrongdoing. But revelations from the past few weeks have certainly highlighted the fact that Trump once enjoyed a close relationship with the disgraced financier who pleaded guilty to paying a minor for sex in 2008 and died by........

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