President Donald Trump on Nov. 16 called on House Republicans to vote for the full release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, marking a stunning reversal after previously warning Republicans to stay out of the Epstein "trap."

"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat 'Shutdown.'"

He added that the Department of Justice had "already turned over tens of thousands of pages" from the Epstein documents and was looking at "various Democrat operatives" mentioned in the files, including former President Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers.

Trump said the House Oversight Committee "can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!”

Trump has dismissed the furor over the Epstein case as a "hoax" pushed by Democrats. After the House Oversight Committee had released more than 20,000 pages of Epstein emails on Nov. 12, Trump accused House Democrats of releasing the emails — one in which Epstein alleges Trump "knew about the girls" — because Democrats lost the fight over the nation's longest-ever government shutdown.

The Trump administration’s decision not to release more Epstein documents has prompted backlash and a push by Congress to get the records. A petition aimed at releasing all Epstein documents gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the issue in the House.

Contributing: Zac Anderson and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: In stark reversal, Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files

Reporting by Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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