Regardless of Home Speaker Mike Johnson’s greatest efforts to run interference for President Donald Trump, the invoice to drive his Pricey Chief to launch the Epstein information simply handed each chambers of Congress on Tuesday, and now heads to Trump’s desk for a signature.
The Epstein information saga is a complete and full loss for Johnson, who spent months attempting to persuade the general public that there was no want for them to see the paperwork associated to now-deceased convicted baby intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, whereas on the similar time making an attempt to dam the laws that may drive Trump to launch the paperwork from ever getting a vote within the first place.
Ultimately, each efforts failed.
A cartoon by Clay Bennett.
Polls present that People overwhelmingly needed the information made public, and disapproved of Trump’s effort to cover them. For instance, an Economist/YouGov ballot performed Nov. 15-17 discovered that 80% suppose the federal government ought to launch the Epstein information, with a plurality (45%) believing that Trump knew one thing about Epstein’s crimes.
And Johnson’s effort to dam the invoice from passing failed spectacularly, with the Home voting 427-1 to drive Trump to launch the information the federal government has on Epstein, and the Senate unanimously passing the invoice shortly after the Home vote succeeded.
The truth that the Senate handed the invoice with out making any modifications to the laws was one more loss for Johnson, who on Tuesday stated he was solely voting for the invoice as a result of he had “some comfort” that Senate Majority Chief John Thune was going to amend the laws to guard the victims—which was actually code for giving Trump leeway to redact and conceal paperwork associated to Epstein.
“If and when it’s processed in the Senate … they’ll be able to correct some of those concerns that we have, the protection of victims and whistleblowers, etc,” Johnson stated.
Even after the invoice handed, Johnson was assured Thune would change the invoice textual content earlier than the Senate voted on it.
“I talked to John Thune over the weekend. I just texted him. We’re going to get together. We’ll talk about this,” Johnson instructed reporters after the vote wrapped, in keeping with Politico. “There’s an easy way to amend the legislation to make sure that we don’t do permanent damage to the justice system. And I’m going to insist upon that.”
But the Senate shortly handed the invoice after the Home vote—and not using a single change.
“I talked with the speaker a bit, and we’ve been in consultation obviously with the White House on this for some time,” Thune stated on Tuesday. “The conclusion was when it came out of the House 427-1 that, you know, it was going to pass in the Senate.”
After the Senate handed the invoice as is, Johnson instructed reporters that he was “deeply disappointed,” and even prompt that Trump might not signal the invoice.
“I was just told that [Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer rushed it to the floor and put it out there preemptively. It needed amendments. I just spoke to the president about that. We’ll see what happens,” Johnson stated.
In the end, Johnson’s efforts to guard Trump—who does not wish to launch the paperwork that his title seems in a number of occasions—have been an abject failure.
Trump is now in a critical bind.
If he indicators the invoice, he will likely be legally compelled to launch the unclassified supplies the federal government possesses on Epstein.
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)—who cosponsored the Epstein information invoice—instructed reporters on Tuesday after the laws handed that he’ll launch paperwork himself if Trump tries to dam them.
“This is not a subpoena, this is a law,” Massie stated, including that if Trump does not launch the information, he might go to the Home ground and skim the names of Epstein’s alleged purchasers himself. “Marjorie [Taylor Greene] would do that, I would do that, there are Democrats that would do that.”
If Trump vetoes the laws, it should create a firestorm that might trigger additional rifts in his MAGA coalition—which is splintering over disagreements about making the Epstein information public.
In the end, nevertheless, it is unclear once we will ever see the Epstein information.
The Division of Justice has not stated when it will launch the paperwork. And it is attainable the DOJ would attempt to use a loophole within the invoice—which says the DOJ can withhold paperwork if they might “jeopardize an energetic federal investigation or ongoing prosecution”—to delay their launch indefinitely.
On condition that Trump ordered Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi to analyze Democrats tied to Epstein, it is attainable she makes use of that sham excuse to justify withholding the information.
However any of these outcomes could be politically damaging for Trump, whose approval score has taken a beating and at the moment stands at an abysmal 40%. Ouch!
