Lawrence O’Donnell called Donald Trump’s investigation into Bill Clinton and other Democrats a ploy to delay the release of the Epstein files, aligning with Rep. Thomas Massie, who’s been leading the legislative effort to reveal them.
“There’s going to be a massive rebellion against Donald Trump in the House of Representatives when that vote is conducted tomorrow,” O’Donnell said Monday on “The Last Word.” The MSNBC host was discussing the rapid turn Republicans have taken against Trump over the ongoing scandal.
“And Donald Trump knew that,” he continued, saying the president is now trying to clean up the mess by making it seem as if he’d wanted the Epstein documents released all along. “He knew that vote was coming, and so Donald Trump has been trying to label it as something other than a rebellion. Donald Trump is trying to label it as now they’re following his orders to release the Epstein files.”
Watch the clip below.
Later on, O’Donnell noted that Massie’s “smokescreen” theory – that Trump is targeting left-wing figures, including Clinton, Larry Summers and more with investigations – will hold up the documents.
He cited a quote from Trump’s Friday Truth Social post.
“Thomas Massie has correctly identified what Donald Trump is really up to,” O’Donnell said, before pulling up the social post. “And Donald Trump revealed that in a tweet on Friday when he said, quote, ‘I will be asking AG Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice together with out great patriots at the FBI to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reed Huffman, JP Morgan Chase and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them and him.’”
O’Donnell’s words, and his agreement, come after Massie called out Trump’s alleged scheme during a Sunday appearance on “This Week.”
“The president’s been saying this is a hoax. He’s been saying that for months. Well, he’s just decided to investigate a hoax if it’s a hoax,” Massie said. “And I have another concern about these investigations announced, if they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released. So this might be a big smokescreen, these investigations, to open a bunch of them to, as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files.”
