Republican rumblings: on Trump and the Epstein files
Mr. Trump's publicity woes regarding Epstein have been compounded, however, not due to any action by Democrats, but the fact that far-right MAGA groups, including conspiracy theorists such as QAnon, who believe that the U.S. government, media, and financial worlds are controlled by elites associated with a global child sex trafficking operation, have been applying pressure on the administration within Republican circles. Even prior to the latest report linking Mr. Trump and Epstein, the President had said that some 'stupid Republicans... have fallen into the net' in asking for more information to be released. Now, it is possible that lawmakers in the House of Representatives will have the opportunity to vote on the decision to release the documents relating to the prosecution of Epstein, relying on a legislative mechanism known as a 'discharge petition'. A bipartisan team, led by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna, has proposed this petition under the moniker of the 'Epstein Files Transparency Act', which, if it is passed with 218 signatures, could require the Attorney General to 'make publicly available ... all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice…' relating to Epstein. Mr. Trump may soon discover that while it helps his policy agenda to have a federal government trifecta and a sympathetic Supreme Court, his political prospects ultimately rest upon his support base, and it is one that is capable of abruptly turning the tide against him.
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