Marist poll shows 90 percent want Epstein files released

The NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll surveyed 1,477 adults between September 22 and 26, 2025, using phone, text, and online methods in both English and Spanish. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Results were published on October 1, 2025, and immediately became national news.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents said they wanted all of the Epstein files released, as long as victims' names were redacted. Another 13 percent wanted some files released. Only 9 percent opposed releasing any documents. That 90 percent combined support figure was one of the highest levels of bipartisan agreement on any political issue in 2025.

Support for full release cut across party lines in ways rarely seen in modern polling. Eighty-four percent of Democrats, 83 percent of independents, and 67 percent of Republicans all said they wanted every file released. LMLee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said the Republican number 'obviously goes in the face of what the administration has been pushing.'

The poll also measured public trust in the Trump administration's handling of the files. Sixty-one percent of Americans disapproved, while only 20 percent approved. Among Republicans specifically, the split was notable: 45 percent approved, 25 percent disapproved, and 30 percent said they didn't have enough information to judge. That means more than half of Republicans either disapproved or weren't sure.

A separate Quinnipiac University poll from July 2025 found even sharper disapproval. Sixty-three percent of voters disapproved of the Trump administration's handling, compared to just 17 percent who approved. The Quinnipiac survey of 1,290 registered voters was conducted July 10-14, a week after the Justice Department effectively closed its investigation without releasing new files.

The demographic breakdowns revealed which voters cared most intensely. White college-educated women supported full release at 94 percent, the highest of any group. Suburban voters overall came in at 85 percent. Higher-income respondents earning more than $50,000 annually supported release at 82 percent, compared to 68 percent among those earning less. Rural voters supported release at 68 percent.

The poll results arrived during a critical legislative fight. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) had filed a discharge petition on September 2 to force a House vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The petition needed 218 signatures to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson, who had not scheduled a vote. By the time the poll was published, the petition was still gathering signatures.

The Marist poll wasn't alone. A Change Research survey from September 2025 found 90 percent backed congressional action to force release of the full set of files. Eighty-four percent of respondents believed the Justice Department had not released all Epstein files, with only 2 percent thinking the government had shared everything. Multiple polling firms confirmed the same overwhelming consensus.