Members of Iowa’s all-Republican federal delegation say they were supportive of releasing information related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — but said the push in Congress to compel the U.

President Donald Trump headed overseas as the crisis over his administration’s handling of the files raged back home.

As observer asked, in reference to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, “What exactly do Trump and his administration need cover for?”

The political divide over documents related to the late Jeffrey Epstein grew in the Senate this week, where Democrats pushed for transparency while Republicans argue Congress has limited power to release the files.

Democrats are urging voters to hound Republicans over the Epstein scandal in a series of attack ads. The adverts about the late paedophile and his friendship with President Donald Trump will run in a dozen Republican-held House of Representatives districts over the August recess, Axios reported.

During Mr. Trump's first term, his labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, resigned following criticism of his handling of Epstein's 2008 plea deal when he was a federal prosecutor in Florida. Epstein served 13 months in a jail work-release program after he was originally accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls and young women.

Federal prosecutors amassed millions of records during the sex trafficking investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

House Republicans on Monday blocked a Democratic effort to compel the Trump administration to release records related to the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The usual deflection tactics — releasing unrelated information, blaming Democrats and the media — haven't worked with this controversy.