Senate Republicans are scrambling to steer clear of the controversy exploding within their MAGA-aligned party’s base over allegations that the Trump administration is hiding information related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his “clients.”

President Trump is facing what may be the biggest backlash he’s ever encountered from usually loyal activists, such as former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and prominent conservative activist Laura Loomer.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel are coming under tremendous pressure from MAGA activists to provide more information about the people who may have been involved in Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking activities, even though the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI concluded in a memo that there is no “incriminating ‘client list.’”

Republican lawmakers don’t want to go near the Epstein controversy that divides their base.

They already have their hands full responding to political attacks from Democrats on Trump’s tariff policies and on the Medicaid spending cuts they passed into law this month, along with trillions of dollars in tax relief and new spending on border security and defense.

“I’ll leave that up to DOJ and to the FBI. I think that’s in their purview. I think the president’s expressed his views on it and so I’ll just leave it at that,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday.

Trump pushed back on some of his most loyal supporters on Saturday and defended Bondi after MAGA-aligned activists took shots at her handling of the Epstein case and related files at a student action summit hosted by the activist group Turning Point USA in Tampa this weekend.

“For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again,” Trump posted on Truth Social, implying that Democrats have pushed the clamor of Epstein’s files.

“Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden administration,” he wrote,........

© The Hill