President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event for Senator Darline Graham Nordone, a Republican from South Carolina, not pictured, ahead of a Republican special primary runoff election at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, US, on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.
A fake website for the Republican National midterm convention, gopdallas2026.com, was redirecting visitors to the U.S. Department of Justice's Epstein Library on Friday.
It is unclear when the redirect first appeared or who is responsible for the creation of the alternate webpage.
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The official RNC midterm convention website is gopconvention.com.
According to the internet archive Wayback Machine, the fake website includes a statement at the bottom:
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"This website is an independent informational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the 2026 RNC Midterm Convention, the American Airlines Center, or any official convention entity. For official convention information, please visit the appropriate official websites."
The official website is intended to provide information about theRepublican Party'sfirst-ever national convention ahead of themidterm elections, which is scheduled to take place in Dallas on Sept. 9 and 10.
The event is expected to draw about 20,000 visitors, includingPresident Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and otherRepublicanleaders, as the party seeks to energize voters in races that will help determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress.
The fake website currently redirects users to theJustice Department'sonline repository of records related to convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein.
The files have been a persistent problem for the president, who has repeatedly denied knowing about Epstein's sexual abuse of girls. He and Epstein had been close, though Trump said the friendship had ended.
The president initially resisted making the files public. However, he reversed his decision last year as it became apparent that Republicans in Congress might join Democrats in forcing their release, something much of his base has demanded.
GoDaddy, which provides domain name registration, shows the fake website was registered on July 7, but the owner's name is private.
