Inside the Republican revolt in the House over the Epstein files that led to the early summer recess for Congress
As controversy over the administration's refusal to release all government files related to the sex offender continues, Johnson faced a 'growing crisis' of his own among key GOP allies as leadership refused to bring any action on Epstein to the House floor, Politico reports.
Behind the scenes, GOP leaders faced a 'standoff' with rank-and-file members who were 'incensed' when they were forced to vote against a Democratic-led effort to release the Epstein files a week before, according to the outlet.
Some lawmakers reportedly 'begged' for action on Epstein in closed-door meetings as they warned Republican leadership that the problem wasn't going away.
The new reported details illustrate the chaos of what was happening behind the scenes as President Donald Trump continues to be plagued by the case of the convicted pedophile.
GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx of Virginia, chair of the House Rules Committee that serves as a final gatekeeper to legislation where a simple majority vote is required, threatened to bring activity on the House floor to a halt unless a better solution to the Epstein issue was put forward, two people with knowledge of the conversation told Politico.
The rebellion prompted Trump to meet with GOP members of the House Rules Committee in the Oval Office Tuesday, according to the outlet.
Johnson moved to shut down the committee, which meant that the House will not be able to tee up votes to pass many of the spending bills that Congress hoped to pass before the August recess, when members break to go back to their districts.
But Johnson likely faces further rebellion in September.
'I think the administration will put more stuff out in August … if they don't, then I promise you, there's going to be some more looking at this in the first week of September,' warned Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.
Republican lawmakers have expressed anger over the Epstein fallout, and said they are under intense pressure from constituents on the issue.
The rebellion of House Republicans who favored releasing more documents in the Epstein case came as a 'surprise' to White House officials, according to Politico. One anonymous GOP member told CNN that members wanted a chance to vote on the issue. 'To be accused of trying to cover up for a pedophile, it's detestable,' they told the network.
Word had got out that Democrats were planning to force an Epstein-related vote Monday. At a meeting with GOP Rules Committee members that evening, Johnson reportedly presented three options on how to proceed. Ultimately, leadership opted to halt the action of the House Rules Committee.
'The rule was going down anyway,' a source with knowledge of the meeting told Politico. 'So the choice was clear.'
Johnson defended effectively shutting down the House while speaking with reporters Wednesday. 'No one in Congress is blocking Epstein documents,' he said.
The rebellion follows recent revelations that the Department of Justice told Trump that his name appears multiple times in the Epstein files, according to multiple senior administration sources.
The sources told The Wall Street Journal that Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, informed the president during a May meeting at the White House that the president's name emerged after they sifted through a 'truckload' of documents related to Epstein.
Following the Journal's report, sources familiar with the exchange confirmed the account to both The New York Times and CNN.
Appearing in the files does not indicate that an individual has committed any wrongdoing, nor has Trump ever been accused of misconduct in connection with the Epstein case.
'This is another fake news story, just like the previous story by The Wall Street Journal,' White House communications director Steven Cheung said about the claims Trump was named.
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