Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) says Donald Trump was “furious” with her for backing efforts to force the release of government files related to Jeffrey Epstein — and warned her that doing so “was going to hurt people.”
In a forthcoming interview with 60 Minutes set to air Sunday, portions of which were previewed on CBS local affiliates Friday night, Greene recalled clashing with Trump over her decision to sign a discharge petition demanding the release of the Department of Justice’s records on Epstein, the deceased child sex trafficker and former Trump associate.
Greene was one of only four House Republicans to sign the petition, which ultimately gathered enough signatures to compel a vote in Congress. The measure passed both chambers and was reluctantly signed by Trump. He has the power to release the records without congressional action, but has so far declined to do so. The Department of Justice has until Dec. 19 to make the files public.
Shortly after Trump took office, then–Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk.” Over the summer, however, the Justice Department reversed course and said no such list exists. Reporting later indicated that Bondi had informed Trump his name appeared in the files. More recently, the House Oversight Committee released a cache of emails to and from Epstein, who repeatedly referenced Trump in opaque terms. In one message, Epstein wrote, “I know how dirty Donald is.”
Speaking with Lesley Stahl, Greene described a tense exchange with Trump over her role in pushing the disclosure.
“We did talk about the Epstein files,” Greene said. “And he was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files. I fully believe that those women deserve everything they’re asking. They’re asking for all of it to come out. They deserve it. And he was furious with me.”
When Stahl asked what Trump said to her, Greene replied, “He said that it was going to hurt people.”
Following Greene’s decision to back the petition, Trump pulled his endorsement of her ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Greene has since announced that she plans to resign from Congress in January.
