Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley intends to run for Senate in North Carolina, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Whatley is a well-known name in the state, having previously served as chairman of the state GOP, and he has no voting record that could be used against him by Democrats.

A flurry of MAGA influencers have spoken out against President Donald Trump 's administration's handling of the Epstein files in recent days as he faces growing political backlash. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Newsweek that the Republican Party has achieved "unprecedented unity and strength" under Trump's leadership.

Trump is among other prominent figures named in the previously unsealed documents. He was mentioned in a 2016 deposition from Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein’s victims, who said the disgraced financier’s plane made an impromptu stop in Atlantic City in the 2000s. Sjoberg said “no” when asked if she’d given Trump a massage.