House speeds toward Epstein showdown |
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The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Evening Report newsletter Subscribe *{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0} @media (max-width:620px){.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}} 🌌 Plus: Space Command HQ to move to Alabama{beacon}REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-Ky.) filed a discharge petition Tuesday seeking to force the release of all government files pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, setting up a new confrontation with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Massie has teamed up with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on the effort to override House leadership and bring an Epstein transparency bill to the floor for a vote.
The bill would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to post all of its Epstein documents online in searchable formats.Johnson on Tuesday added a vote to the docket for later this week to direct the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to “continue its ongoing investigation,” as he seeks to avoid the discharge petition.
Massie called Johnson's move a “meaningless vote to provide political cover for those members who don’t support our bipartisan legislation to force the release of the Epstein files.”
Massie and Khanna will hold a press conference Wednesday morning with 10 Epstein victims. GOP leaders, including Johnson, met privately with the survivors Tuesday.
"It's for us to hear from them, to express our deep sympathy for what they've been made to endure and ensure that we have been and always will be for maximum transparency, for justice to be brought for all those engaged in these evils and to ensure that happens as quickly as possible," Johnson said Tuesday.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) left Tuesday's meeting with survivors early and was visibly upset, according to NewsNation's Kristen Eskow.
Mace posted that she experienced a "full blow panic attack" and said she felt "the immense pain of how hard all victims are fighting for themselves because we know absolutely no one will fight for us."
Massie's efforts once again put him at odds with President Trump and Johnson.
Trump has said there is nothing left to learn about Epstein, and he’s fumed over what he views as a conspiratorial fixation on the matter. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in July that there is no Epstein “client list,” effectively ending the DOJ's investigation into Epstein’s network.
The Oversight Committee is currently investigating the matter, issuing subpoenas to former administration officials in both parties, including former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Over the weekend, the panel withdrew a subpoena for former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the one-time special counsel who led the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
Mueller’s family said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the summer of 2021, about two years after he testified before Congress about his Trump-Russia findings.
 SHUTDOWN POLITICS
The government will run out of money at the end of the month unless Congress passes a new funding bill.
Trump’s plan to claw back an additional $5 billion in foreign aid funds has complicated the politics around the shutdown, with Democrats saying they can’t trust Republicans on funding matters if the White House will turn around and rescind the money.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) warned in a letter Tuesday that the chances of a shutdown are growing, arguing that “Republicans are once again threatening to go-at-it-alone” by not negotiating with Democrats on a stopgap spending measure.
Schumer singled-out Trump’s “pocket rescissions” to accuse Republicans of forcing the shutdown standoff.
“It is clear that Republicans are prioritizing chaos over governing, partisanship over partnership, and their own power over the American people,” Schumer said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also blasted the rescissions, calling them “unlawful.”
“Congress alone bears the constitutional responsibility for........© The Hill