Latest news with #MikeJohnson
The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Stephen Colbert: ‘The more we know about Trump's relationship to Epstein, the more we wish we didn't'
Late-night hosts dig into Donald Trump's attempts to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein files scandal plaguing his administration. 'It's a great day to be me, because I am not Donald Trump,' said Stephen Colbert on Tuesday's Late Show. 'That guy has got a lot of problems. First of all, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal just won't 'kill itself.' And we might have a hint why Trump hasn't been that eager to release those files.' According to Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator from Illinois, a thousand FBI agents were put on 24-hour shifts in March to review approximately 100,000 records related to Epstein and flag any mentions of Trump. 'That is a suspiciously Herculean effort,' said Colbert. 'All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't hide who Dumpty humped with his friend.' Now even Maga is demanding answers – 11 congressional Republicans have said they will join Democrats to vote to release the Epstein files, making a majority in Congress. In response, speaker Mike Johnson shut down the House until September to block the vote. 'It's a common parliamentary maneuver known as [unintelligible screeching],' Colbert joked with his fingers in his ears. 'You cannot blame Trump and his allies for being scared here,' he continued, 'because the more we know about Trump's relationship to Epstein, the more we wish we didn't.' According to court records, Trump flew on Epstein's plane at least seven times. 'That doesn't mean he did anything illegal, but it's not a great look when you fly on the pedophile's plane enough times to earn diamond pervert status,' Colbert quipped. The furor is digging up other moments from Trump's 'creepy past', such as a clip from the Howard Stern show in 2006 where he said he 'had no age limit' for sex with women. The Stern clip 'is just a small taste of his long public history of pervitude, and it all makes it hard to accept Donald Trump's Epstein denials,' said Colbert. 'I mean, it would be easier to accept Sir Mix-a-Lot releasing 'I Never Visited Big Butt Island.'' 'Of course, whenever Trump is backed into a corner, he needs to change the subject and throw red meat to the carnivorous base,' he continued. 'And their favorite cut is filet of Obama.' Asked about the Epstein scandal in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump rambled about 'irrefutable truth that Obama was 'sedacious''. 'Wow, it takes extraordinary confidence to call a former president 'sedacious,'' said Colbert, 'because that is not a word'. Trump refuses to give answers about the Epstein files, but he WILL field questions about those cankles 'Trump has been doing everything that he can to keep those files under wraps,' said new Daily Show guest host Josh Johnson on Tuesday. 'He's even got his friends in Congress trying to help,' as speaker Mike Johnson (no relation) shut down the House until September to avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files. 'Do you understand that they cleared Congress out for the summer like they found a dookie in the pool,' Johnson joked. 'Trying to shut down the release of the files only makes them more interesting,' he continued. 'So for the last week, Trump has been throwing every distraction he can at us.' Johnson went through each distraction one by one, starting with blaming Barack Obama with, as Trump put it, 'irrefutable proof that Obama was sedacious'. 'Sedacious? It sounds like he's mispronouncing a new black friend's name,' Johnson joked. 'The problem with this distraction is that it's so old, Jeffrey Epstein wouldn't date it. Trump has been going after Obama for decades – he's going to need something else.' Such as a health diagnosis of 'chronic venous insufficiency', which the White House offered after photos showed Trump with swollen ankles. 'I cannot stress how big of a deal this is, because they never admit that Trump has anything but impeccable health,' said Johnson. 'Usually, they bring out a doctor to be like, 'Donald Trump has big muscles and a girthy ass dick. Medically speaking, he makes Hercules look like a pig with cancer.'' 'His doctors once said that his blood pressure was 'astonishingly excellent.' That's not even how blood pressure works!' he added. 'But I get why this put this out. One, it's a good distraction. And two, people have been starting to notice that Trump looks, medically speaking, like shit.' And on Late Night, Seth Meyers mocked one of Trump's Truth Social posts from the weekend, in which he celebrated six months of his second term and said 'wow, time flies.' 'Does it, though?' Meyers responded. 'It's been six months of this term, but we already did four years of you, and even when [Joe Biden] was president, you were still the president of every news cycle. It feels like you've been president forever. I think it goes Washington, Jefferson, Adams and then you.' In other news, King Charles named his wife, Queen Camilla, the vice admiral of the United Kingdom last week in honor of her 78th birthday. 'And not to be outdone, President Trump has finally named First Lady Melania as his emergency contact,' Meyers quipped. And the White House released a memo outlining the President's health issues, saying that the bruising seen on the back of his hand in several photographs was 'consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent hand-shaking'. 'I just love that his followers have to somehow reconcile this idea that he's this powerful strongman but also he gets bruises if you touch him,' Meyers laughed. 'He's the indestructible savior of America, but also he's basically a plum.'
Bloomberg
19 minutes ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Speaker Johnson Says He's Become ‘Disenchanted' With Powell
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is 'disenchanted' with Jerome Powell, as President Donald Trump attacks the Federal Reserve chairman over frustrations with high interest rates. Asked about whether he would support Trump firing Powell, Johnson said he was unclear on the legal authority to dismiss the Fed chief.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Johnson Starts Work on Follow-Up Tax Bill, Seeking Fall Passage
House Republicans are starting work on a follow-up to their recently enacted tax-and-spending law, aiming to pass provisions that were removed from President Donald Trump's 'one big, beautiful bill,' Speaker Mike Johnsonsaid in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Government. Johnson (R-La.) aims to enact a second, smaller tax bill 'in the late fall' using the budget reconciliation process, he said. He's trying a second time to successfully pass measures that were effectively removed by the Senate parliamentarian from Republicans' first bill (H.R. 1), aiming to draft them in a way that complies with that chamber's arcane budget rules.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Ro Khanna Says Mike Johnson's Decision To Shut Down The House Early Speaks Volumes
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Tuesday said House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) call to abruptly shut down the lower chamber ahead of schedule was a calculated decision to block a vote on the release of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and was likely made at the direction of President Donald Trump. Johnson on Tuesday canceled upcoming votes, announcing he would send lawmakers home for a five-week recess on Wednesday evening, while calling the controversy around the Epstein files a 'Democrat sideshow.' In an interview with CNN's 'AC360,' Khanna, one of the Democrats leading the bipartisan effort to release the documents, said Johnson took action because he knew their resolution had the votes to pass and he didn't 'want to embarrass the members of his own caucus.' Khanna added that their resolution has secured the approval of several GOP members, including Thomas Massie (Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Tim Burchett (Tenn.). 'I don't think they've ever in my entire nine years in Congress, sponsored any legislation that I've introduced,' Khanna said. 'So this is something that he knows his base wants. It would overwhelmingly pass, and so he's literally closing Congress because he doesn't want to vote on our bill, or any bill or any amendment related to the release of the Epstein files,' Khanna told CNN's John Berman of Johnson. Asked if he believed Trump pushed Johnson to call for an early recess, Khanna said the president was most likely involved in the decision, citing Johnson's reluctance to put up a nonbinding resolution calling on the White House to release the files up for a vote. 'The president simply does not want [Johnson] to have any vote on any bill or any amendment regarding Epstein,' Khanna said. 'But this issue is not going away.' Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee agreed in a voice vote to ask Epstein collaborator Ghislaine Maxwell to provide a deposition. Separately, the Justice Department also wants to speak to Maxwell. The president's relationship to Epstein is getting fresh scrutiny after CNN on Wednesday released images of him attending Trump's wedding to Marla Maples in 1993 as well as video of the two men attending a Victoria's Secret event in 1999. When CNN approached Trump for comment on the unearthed wedding photos, Trump replied: 'You've got to be kidding me,' before blasting the network as 'fake news' and ending the call. The network's reporting follows a Wall Street Journal report last week stating that the newspaper reviewed a 'bawdy' birthday message Trump wrote to Epstein in 2003 as part of a surprise put together by Maxwell. Trump blasted the report as fake and sued the paper and its owner Rupert Murdoch over its contents. Related... Trump Continues Evading Questions About His Child Sex Trafficking Friends 'Now Do Epstein': Martin Luther King Jr.'s Daughter Takes Aim At Trump Over Released MLK Files Mike Johnson Shuts Down House Early To Block Vote On Jeffrey Epstein Files
CTV News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
U.S. House ending session early as Republicans clash over Epstein vote
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives for an early morning strategy session with the Republican Conference, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is rebuffing pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early for a month-long break from Washington after the week's legislative agenda was upended by Republican members who are clamouring for a vote. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said Tuesday morning that he wants to give the White House 'space' to release the Epstein information on its own, despite the bipartisan push for legislation that aims to force the release of more documents. 'There's no purpose for the Congress to push an administration to do something they're already doing,' Johnson said at his weekly news conference, his last before lawmakers depart Washington on Wednesday for their traditional August recess. The speaker's stance did little to alleviate the intra-party turmoil unfolding on Capitol Hill as many of U.S. President Donald Trump's supporters demand that the administration meet its promises to publicly release a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein, who killed himself in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. Under pressure from right-wing online influencers, as well as voters back home, rank-and-file Republicans are demanding that the House intervene in the matter. 'The public's not going to let this die, and rightfully so,' said Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican. Will Ghislaine Maxwell's deposition happen? Even before Johnson spoke Tuesday morning, the powerful House Committee on Oversight was advancing a resolution to subpoena Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a deposition. The Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said there will be a negotiation with Maxwell's attorney over the terms of the deposition and that it could happen at the prison where she is serving a lengthy sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. The U.S. Justice Department also indicated Tuesday it was separately seeking to interview Maxwell. While Democrats on the House Oversight Committee supported the action, the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, warned that her testimony should be treated with skepticism. 'We should be looking and continue to push for a full release of the files,' Garcia told reporters. 'I think it's important for people to know that she obviously is a documented liar and someone that has caused enormous harm to young girls and women.' Trump didn't address the issue during a reception for House Republicans at the White House on Tuesday night but heaped praise on Johnson, saying he would 'go down as one of the great speakers at any time in history.' In remarks alongside Trump, Johnson made no mention of it either. Speaker Johnson's control of the House is under threat Johnson decided to end the House's legislative business early this week after he essentially lost control of the powerful House Rules Committee, which sends bills to the floor for debates and votes. Late Monday evening, business on that panel ground to a halt when the Republicans on the committee abruptly recessed proceedings rather than risk more proposals from Democrats pushing them to release Epstein files. Republicans had teed up votes on legislation to increase penalties for migrants who enter the country illegally, to ease permitting for water infrastructure and to roll back several Biden-era regulations. All those bills were put on hold, at least until after the August recess. Frustration in the House has been running high since last week, when Republican leaders signaled possible support for a vote on the Epstein files as they raced to pass a US$9-billion package of spending cuts. Johnson unveiled a resolution that has no legal weight but would urge the Justice Department to produce more documentation. Trump, meanwhile, has asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of testimony from secret grand jury proceedings in the case, though that effort is unlikely to produce new revelations. Echoing Trump's position, Johnson insisted he, too, wants the files released, but only those that are 'credible.' Johnson, who has relied heavily on Trump to hold onto leadership in the House, cast the president's reticence to release information as out of concern for the victims of Epstein. 'We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody who was involved in that — absolutely — and we're resolved to do it,' Johnson said. 'But we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent, and that is a fine needle to thread.' In the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also told reporters he believed Trump and Bondi would 'make the right decisions' on the files, but opened the door to committees examining the matter. Epstein has become a political wedge among GOP Even with the month-long break, the pressure on Johnson is unlikely to end. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican whose contrarian stances are often a thorn in the side of leadership, is gathering support for a legislative manoeuvre to force the bipartisan bill to a House vote, even without leadership's consent. 'Now, there are a lot of people here in the swamp who think that, 'Oh, well, if we spend five weeks on vacation, the pressure for this will dissipate. I don't think it's going to dissipate.'' Massie told reporters Monday evening. Democrats have watched it all unfold with glee and worked to inflame the conflict among Republicans by making their own calls for transparency on the Epstein investigation. They have repeatedly tried to force votes on the matter, casting it as an issue of trust in the government. 'It's about transparency in government. It's about whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the rich and powerful, protecting men? Or are you on the side of young girls and America's children?' said Rep. Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who put forward the legislation alongside Massie. Epstein sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting vulnerable girls as young as 14, authorities say. He couldn't have done so without the help of Maxwell, his longtime companion, prosecutors contend. Massie said the case is palpable enough to carry significant political consequences. 'This will be an issue that does follow Republicans through the midterms, and it will follow each individual Republican through the midterms. It will follow people into their primaries. Did you support transparency and justice, or did you come up here, get elected and fall into the swamp?' he told reporters. He added, 'I think it is a watershed moment for the speaker of the House and the president.' ___ Stephen Groves And Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
