GOP senator objects to second Democratic request in eight days to release Epstein files

Yahoo

4 days ago

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) on Thursday objected to a Democratic resolution demanding the Department of Justice release all files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego (D) went to the Senate floor Thursday at lunchtime to demand for the second time in eight days that Attorney General Pam Bondi release all files related to Epstein, something that MAGA-aligned activists have demanded for months and has divided the Republican Party.
But Mullin, who had blocked the resolution the first time, stepped in to object again, dismissing Gallego's call as 'political theater.'
He said Republicans want 'transparency' into Epstein's illicit activities, including alleged sex trafficking, but he argued it's not Congress's role to dictate to the Justice Department what sensitive files must be released to the public.
'We want to know what happened, the American people want to know what happened. What this resolution does is it's actually a blurred line between the separation of powers,' Mullin said. 'When we start dictating to the Department of Justice what they can and can't do, there's a clear separation of power.'
'We're the legislative branch. That's what we do. We make laws. We can't dictate to other branches on what they must and how they must do their job,' he added.
The Oklahoma Republican then offered an alternative resolution calling on a Florida federal judge to release grand jury documents related to the criminal investigation into Epstein.
The judge, Robin Rosenberg, this declined the Justice Department's request to unseal the grand jury transcripts, saying the standard invoked by the Trump administration to request grand jury documents was on the basis of public interest and not to meet the needs of an ongoing judicial proceeding.
Mullin argued that judges have the power to release more information about Epstein and asked Gallego to agree to his resolution.
But Gallego instead suggested combining his resolution with Mullin's to demand both the Department of Justice and the judicial branch to release files and grand jury documents that might shed light onto Epstein's activities.
The Arizona Democrat tried to ratchet up the pressure on Mullin to accept the modified request by suggesting that objecting to it would amount to an effort to 'protect the powerful elites.'
Mullin, however, objected to combining the two requests and needled his Democratic colleague over the failure of the Biden administration to release the Epstein files.
'Let's be honest. We know these files have been out there forever. I don't remember a single time the Biden administration called on these things to be released. And I don't remember my colleague from Arizona asking for the files to be released,' he said.
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