Republican Sen. Thom Tillis continued to buck against Republican House leadership and President Donald Trump Wednesday over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The North Carolina Republican made a defiant call to "release the damn files" while appearing at an Axios event.

Trump had sought the release of documents after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters.

The Justice department petitioned the court last week to release those typically closely held records of the testimony of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury.