West Pittston, just outside of the industrial centre of Scranton, Pennsylvania, has a classic smalltown-American look.

There are clapboard houses, a main drag with businesses bearing charming vintage patina and lampposts bearing flags of the town’s military veterans and MAGA faithful.

On Wednesday, in 85F (30C) weather, they lined the streets outside Don’s Machine Shop where JD Vance spoke, touting President Donald Trump’s recent legislative victory, what he calls his Big Beautiful Bill.

But a lawn sign nearby as the US vice-president spoke pointed to an additional priority on some minds – a rare backlash against the Trump presidency from his own supporters.

“WHERE IS THE LIST???” the sign read – a reference to the release of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files, a purported tranche of government documents on the disgraced financier and sex offender.

Rumors of a “client list” of Epstein’s famous friends have circulated online for years.

But the Justice Department recently threw cold water on the theory, releasing a memo saying it found no evidence that a client list exists.

Among those attending the Vance event, some put their faith in Trump.

“When he’s ready, he’ll let them out,” Ed DeLucca, 72, told the BBC, saying he hoped Trump would bring the documents to light.

For Mr DeLucca, the rumoured files would ultimately be delivered much like any other Trump promise, such as closing the border or mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Epstein was charged by federal prosecutors for sex trafficking of minors and other crimes in 2019. He died by suicide in jail later that year, sparking continued rumors and conspiracies about his death and – most recently – about possible “clients” named in government files.

Yet, according to the president and his top law enforcement officials, the documents may not be forthcoming – and some may not exist at all.

That concession has thrown Trump’s Make America Great Again movement into chaos, with even staunch supporters calling for the removal of Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino.

The fact that several of these officials previously called for the government to release allegedly hidden Epstein files has led to accusations of broken promises from within MAGA.

The resulting online storm has also threatened to overshadow the budget bill, a major legislative win Trump just clawed from Congress.

“We put you in office, you ran on this platform,” Steven Taylor, a local truck driver and Trump supporter who was in West Pittson on Wednesday, told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. “We didn’t ask for it. And now we want it. We demand It.”

“There needs to be accountability. There needs to be justice,” he said.

But others like Mr DeLucca were more sanguine. “There’s a reason for it. They’ll come out,” he said.

“They got to make peace,” he said of the MAGA factions warring over Epstein.

“They can’t exist without Pam, or Dan Bongino,” he said of the administration. “It’s like the Avengers assembled, the Justice League of America.”

But voters in the eastern Pennsylvania town, who have slowly and steadily united behind Republicans during the Trump era, may split over whether to accept the president’s strategy on Epstein.

Trump has tried to quell the storm, posting on Truth Social that the alleged hidden Epstein files were actually a “hoax” concocted by Democrats.

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this [expletive] hook, line, and sinker,” he wrote on Wednesday.

“I don’t care. Democrats should have released it when Biden was president,” she told BBC on Wednesday. “Democrats are just using it as a political football.”

She was far more focused on Trump’s performance in passing the budget bill and deporting undocumented immigrants in a sweeping crackdown.

“I’d say, to our MAGA base: Have faith in President Trump.” (BBC)

•People gather to watch US Vice-President JD Vance to speak about the “One Big Beautiful Bill” law in West Pittston, Pennsylvania.