Former Gov. Haley urges Trump administration to release Epstein files amid controversy

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley walks to the stage at a campaign event after being introduced by U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Camden, S.C. Haley has sharpened her attacks on former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, as the two prepare to face off in South Carolina’s Republican primary on Feb. 24. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

(WCIV) — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has thrown herself into the Jeffrey Epstein controversy, as she called on the Trump administration to release all the information it has on the case.

“Release the Epstein files and let the chips fall where they may,” Haley posted on social media Tuesday. “You can never go wrong with being transparent. Redact victims’ names but release the rest.”

Release the Epstein files and let the chips fall where they may. This is why people don’t trust government. You can never go wrong with being transparent. Redact victims’ names but release the rest.

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) July 15, 2025

Haley’s comments come after Donald Trump supporters erupted over the Justice Department’s failure to release much-hyped records in Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation after Attorney General Pam Bondi insinuated they were sitting on her desk.

Trump, attempting to diffuse a crisis of his own making, has attempted to downplay the issue.

Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI backtracked on the notion that there is an Epstein client list of elites who participated in the wealthy New York financier’s trafficking of underage girls. Trump quickly defended Attorney General Bondi and scolded a reporter for daring to ask about the documents.

Trump then used his Truth Social platform to attempt to call supporters off the Epstein trail amid reports of infighting between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over the issue. He suggested the turmoil was undermining his administration — “all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”

The president has spent years stoking dark theories and embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts him as the only savior who can demolish the “deep state.”

Now that he’s running the federal government again, the community he helped build is demanding answers he either isn’t able to or doesn’t want to provide.

Bondi in February suggested that a client list document was on her desk waiting for review. However, last week, she claimed she’d been referring to the Epstein case file and not a specific client list.

House Democrats attempted to force a vote on releasing files related to Epstein in a bid that fell flat Monday, as a 7-5 vote in the House Rules Committee stopped the proposal from reaching the lower chamber. The one House Republican who voted in support of the measure was South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman.

“Thankful for [Ralph Norman],” Haley wrote, “for understanding the importance of transparency.”

Thankful for @RalphNorman for understanding the importance of transparency. https://t.co/jvsrcmQAhL

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) July 15, 2025

Haley ran against Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential primary, claiming she was a candidate who could allow the country to move on from the chaos spurred by the then-former president.

She was also the governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, before joining the Trump administration to serve as ambassador to the U.N. from 2017 to 2018.