Latest news with #Democratic
New York Post
24 minutes ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Speaker Johnson: Epstein drama ‘not a hoax,' Congress wants ‘full transparency'
House Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted that the drama surrounding the case of late child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein 'is not a hoax' and that lawmakers want to see justice for the victims as he grapples with a growing firestorm over the issue. 'We want full transparency,' Johnson (R-La.) told CBS News' 'The Takeout with Major Garrett' Wednesday. 'We want everybody who is involved in any way with the Epstein evils — let's call it what it was — to be brought to justice as quickly as possible.' 'We want the full weight of the law on their heads.' Advertisement A weeks-long controversy has roiled Trump's MAGA movement after the Justice Department and FBI concluded in a July 6 memo that Epstein most likely killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell and didn't have an 'incriminating client list' of rich and powerful people who took part in sex with girls as young as 14. The conclusion has caused headaches for Johnson after House Democrats won over several Republicans in a push to publicly release the full case file. 3 House Speaker Mike Johnson said he hasn't seen the Jeffrey Epstein evidence in question. REUTERS Advertisement 3 Interest in Jeffrey Epstein was revived after a DOJ and FBI memo this week kicked up a firestorm and demands within MAGA world for more transparency. AP On Monday, the House Rules Committee — the lower chamber's gatekeeper for most legislation that gets a floor vote — was forced to adjourn by Republicans who wanted to short-circuit a Democratic effort to force the disclosure of the Epstein files. Johnson then opted to send lawmakers home to their districts Wednesday for the August recess — one day ahead of schedule — due to the House floor effectively being frozen over the Epstein revolt. President Trump has seethed at the controversy, calling out 'past' supporters as 'weaklings' for buying into the 'hoax.' Advertisement 'It's not a hoax. Of course not,' Johnson told Garrett. 3 House Speaker Mike Johnson has been careful not to break with President Trump on the Jeffrey Epstein ordeal. Getty Images 'I've never seen the Epstein evidence; it wasn't in my lane, but I had the same concerning questions that a lot of people do,' he later added. Rank-and-file lawmakers are pushing Johnson to hold a vote to compel the release of outstanding documents once the House returns from its recess Sept. 2. Advertisement Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are pursuing a discharge petition — a legislative technique to force a vote on a bill without the speaker's blessing — to that effect. Meanwhile, Trump has announced his support for the release of grand jury testimony in the cases against Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell and her legal team in Tallahassee, Fla. to discuss the case. Additionally, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Maxwell for testimony, with an interview tentatively set for Aug. 11.
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Epstein controversy sets capitol dome spinning
I have previously observed in this space that there's something about Washington that just loves a juicy scandal. Is D.C. different from anywhere else in the U.S.? Probably only in degree. Scandals divert attention from the otherwise hum-drummery of political infighting and bureaucratic skirmishes that consume so much of our government's business. They provide an entertaining diversion from things that really matter. This scandal fixation doubled-down in the current brouhaha over whether the evidence held by the Justice Department on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein should be released. It now is a scandal about a scandal. The original scandal related to the sex-trafficking by Epstein of women, including minors. The new scandal is about just who the paying clients were, why they were not tried as accessories, and why their identities remain concealed. The current scandal has kicked into overdrive with the reversals of President Trump and his top Justice and FBI appointees over the wisdom of releasing all the relevant materials. Epstein's was one of the juicier conspiracy theories fueled for years by Trump and these same allies, who charged past Democratic presidents with covering-up the details. Now the shoe is on the other foot and it's pinching. Trump and his team are now claiming there's no there there. The problem is the hardcore base of the MAGA movement both nationally and in Congress fail to buy into this spin reversal. It is causing panic among some in the White House and on Capitol Hill, with midterm elections looming just over the horizon next year. All this fuss from both parties is setting the capitol dome spinning. Democrats are thumping the drums of a coverup and clamoring for full disclosure. Majority party Republicans are ducking for cover, but some are taking issue with the president's protestations that it's all a hoax, fake news and hyperventilating. The president is especially upset that a segment of his MAGA supporters is not closing ranks behind him, calling them a bunch of idiots and lunatics. This came to a head last week as the president's party leaders in Congress were trying to pass his $9 billion rescission package and the defense appropriations bill, with Democrats throwing brickbats and smoke bombs over Epstein. Last Tuesday, when House Republicans were trying to pass a special rule on the floor providing for consideration of the defense appropriations bill and three other measures, the wheels came flying off. The routine special rule for consideration of the bill, which is usually adopted on a party-line vote, was rejected, 196-223, with 13 Republicans voting against it. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) voted 'nay' to preserve his right to call for a reconsideration of the vote, which he promptly moved. The chair postponed action on that critical vote until the next day when it passed, 217-212, with only three members not voting. But that was not the end of it. Democrats smelled blood and moved in for another attack the following day when the Rules Committee met to consider a final procedural rule for the recission bill (H.R. 4). The proposed rule provided for automatic adoption of the Senate-passed amendment to the bill, thus clearing the recissions for the president's signature. Rules Committee Ranking Member James McGovern (D-Mass.), offered an amendment to also make in order a bill introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to mandate that the Justice Department release all the evidence in the Epstein files. McGovern's motion was ruled non-germane by the chair, and he lost an appeal of the ruling on a party-line vote. When the special rule was brought to the floor late Wednesday evening, McGovern made a run at trying to defeat the previous question to allow for consideration of the Khanna bill. This time, the majority was better armed. In the Rules Committee, it had also allowed for consideration on the floor of a non-binding, sense of the House concurrent resolution by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), one of two Freedom Caucus members on the committee. The resolution also called for the full disclosure of the Epstein files. Although the Norman resolution rule was not brought up for consideration last Wednesday, the leadership's agreement to allow for its later consideration was sufficient to placate most of the previous Republican naysayers to support the rescission rule, and it was adopted, 216-213, with only two Republicans voting 'nay' and two not voting. It was still obvious that the Epstein files concealment scandal had legs and was not going away. A small chunk of hardcore MAGA voters nationwide were still squawking, keeping pressure on for full disclosure of the Epstein files. House Republican leaders were sufficiently drained from the previous week's perilous peregrinations that they adjourned the House Wednesday for an early August recess rather than risk any more Epstein votes. The lesson learned from this whole episode is that conspiracy theories have a way of circling back and biting their original perpetrators in their posteriors. Don Wolfensberger is a 28-year congressional staff veteran who served as chief of staff to the House Rules Committee in 1995. He is author of, ' Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial ' (2000); and, 'Changing Cultures in Congress: From Fair Play to Power Plays' (2018).
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP senator objects to second Democratic request in eight days to release Epstein files
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 that 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.
Toronto Star
24 minutes ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King drops out of 2026 Republican race for US Senate
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King dropped out of the 2026 Republican race for the US Senate Thursday, admitting on X that he likely wouldn't earn the nomination to face Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, considered the Senate's most vulnerable Democratic incumbent coming up for reelection. A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who had suggested he may join the Republican race, said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called the representative and said he would be supporting former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley's campaign, which he hasn't launched yet.
Winnipeg Free Press
24 minutes ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King drops out of 2026 Republican race for US Senate
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King dropped out of the 2026 Republican race for the US Senate Thursday, admitting on X that he likely wouldn't earn the nomination to face Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, considered the Senate's most vulnerable Democratic incumbent coming up for reelection. A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who had suggested he may join the Republican race, said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called the representative and said he would be supporting former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley's campaign, which he hasn't launched yet. 'Congressman Collins and the Governor had a positive call,' said the spokesperson. 'The Congressman reiterated to the Governor he is focused on continuing to deliver on President Trump's agenda and looks forward to the Governor's support after he wins the primary.' The move comes two months after King launched his bid for Senate with a promise to advance President Donald Trump's agenda. The announcement followed decisions from U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kemp not to seek the Republican nomination, leaving Georgia Republicans looking for other options against Ossoff. King has been slow to raise funds, and said on X he instead said he plans to run to for reelection for his job as insurance commissioner. 'I've spent my entire life in the arena as a lawman, soldier, and first Hispanic elected statewide in Georgia, and I'm not done yet,' King said in a post on X. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Republican who represents a coastal Georgia district, also announced his campaign for U.S. Senate after Kemp announced he wasn't running.
