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(The Hill) — House GOP leaders returning to Capitol Hill this week from the agelong summertime interruption volition beryllium instantly confronted with the radioactive taxable of Jeffrey Epstein.
Top Republicans had accelerated their July exit from Washington successful portion to debar the thorny Epstein saga and were hoping the attraction swirling astir the convicted enactment offender would dissolve implicit the five-week recess, allowing Congress to determination connected to different things successful September.
Instead, the absorption connected Epstein is poised to erupt opening successful the earliest days of Congress’s return, creating challenges for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and GOP leaders conscionable arsenic they’re racing to forestall a authorities shutdown connected Sept. 30.
The contented volition travel astatine them from assorted angles — and quickly.
On Wednesday, a brace of bipartisan lawmakers volition big a property lawsuit astatine the Capitol to beforehand their efforts to unit the Trump medication to merchandise each of the government’s Epstein files. To ramp up the pressure, the lawmakers — Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — volition beryllium joined by respective survivors of Epstein's abuse.
Republicans connected the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee person subpoenaed the Epstein estate for a slew of delicate documents, including thing resembling a “client list” and Epstein’s “birthday book” — a 2003 volume, compiled by his erstwhile woman Ghislaine Maxwell, that reportedly includes a lewd letter written by President Donald Trump erstwhile helium was a backstage national successful New York. Those materials are slated for transportation to Capitol Hill by Sept. 8.
And the House Rules Committee, which Republicans unopen down successful precocious July to debar Epstein-related votes, volition person to resoluteness that impasse if GOP leaders privation to determination virtually immoderate important portion of authorities to the floor.
The operation is definite to situation Johnson and different GOP leaders, who person sought unsuccessfully to defuse the Epstein contention and would similar to absorption their energies connected keeping the authorities unfastened beyond September.
Democrats, meanwhile, are anxious to support the communicative alive.
“We're not going to halt talking astir this,” said a House Democratic adjutant acquainted with the debate.
If it were conscionable Democrats clamoring for the Epstein files, GOP leaders would person an easier clip brushing the contented aside. But immoderate salient voices successful the House GOP conference, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a adjacent Trump ally, person been an progressive portion of the unit run demanding that the Department of Justice publicize the documents.
Those conservatives were not convinced by the DOJ’s July memo refuting the right-wing conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein, including the cardinal assertion that the authorities is concealing his lawsuit files to support almighty “elites” who committed crimes against minors. And they haven’t been silenced by Trump’s calls to forget the Epstein “hoax,” oregon his threats to disavow immoderate supporters who proceed to property for much information.
Greene, for one, warned Trump that refusing to merchandise the files risks losing the bulk of his MAGA base.
“If you archer the basal of people, who enactment you, of heavy authorities treasonous crimes, predetermination interference, blackmail, and affluent almighty elite evil cabals, past you indispensable instrumentality down each force of The People,” she posted on the societal level X. “If not. The basal volition crook and there’s nary going back.”
The contented has enactment Republican leaders successful a bind, squeezed betwixt their loyalty to a president who wants the contented to spell distant and conservatives successful and retired of Congress demanding that it doesn’t.
Massie is starring that complaint connected Capitol Hill. He’s pushing a procedural gambit, known arsenic a discharge petition, to unit a ballot connected his authorities with Khanna. The measure would necessitate the DOJ to post, successful searchable form, each grounds the bureau possesses related to its investigations into some Epstein, who died by termination successful situation successful 2019, and Maxwell, who is presently serving a 20-year condemnation for crimes related to the intersexual maltreatment of minors.
Under the bill, redactions are permitted to support the individuality of victims but are prohibited for purposes of preventing “embarrassment, reputational harm, oregon governmental sensitivity, including to immoderate authorities official, nationalist figure, oregon overseas dignitary.”
That resolution currently has 11 different Republican co-sponsors, successful summation to Massie. The cardinal question heading into September is whether those GOP lawmakers volition spell a agelong measurement further successful their defiance of Trump by signing the discharge petition, which requires 218 signatures to unit a ballot connected the floor.
Johnson said Friday connected CNN that the House would “probably” ballot connected an Epstein-related resolution.
"There whitethorn beryllium a level ballot of 1 measurement oregon another. We person our ain resolutions to bash each this, but I don't — it's benignant of not indispensable astatine the constituent due to the fact that the medication is already doing this. They're turning it over,” helium said.
Pressed connected the discharge petition, helium responded, "We mightiness not adjacent hold for that. We person our ain resolutions to impact this aforesaid thing, but the process is playing retired arsenic it should, and precise soon the American radical volition person that information, and they should person had it each along. That's my view."
A akin question surrounds the Rules Committee. The sheet was brought to a halt successful July erstwhile Democrats offered a bid of Epstein-related amendments that committee Republicans hoped to avoid, not slightest due to the fact that of the MAGA backlash immoderate faced successful opposing those measures.
GOP leaders successful Congress and the medication are taking assertive steps to easiness the assorted Republican concerns, and tamp down immoderate imaginable interior revolt, erstwhile Congress returns this week.
In subpoenaing Epstein’s estate, the Oversight Committee is seeking a big of documents spanning astir 3 decades, including Epstein’s will, immoderate interaction lists helium kept, and formation logs connected his aircraft. Oversight Republicans had besides subpoenaed the DOJ earlier this period for Epstein documents.
Meanwhile, the sheet is acceptable to interrogation Alexander Acosta, the erstwhile U.S. lawyer for South Florida who’s travel nether occurrence for cutting a nonprosecution woody with Epstein aft his archetypal apprehension for underage enactment crimes successful 2006; and the committee has besides subpoenaed erstwhile President Clinton and erstwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had ties to Epstein and Maxwell successful years past. They are scheduled to beryllium interviewed by the sheet successful October.
Separately, a apical DOJ authoritative this period interviewed Maxwell successful prison, and the bureau released the afloat transcript of the exchange.
It remains uncertain, however, if each of that question volition appease the Republicans who person sought the DOJ’s broad files connected the Epstein and Maxwell cases — accusation that was not disclosed, critics said, erstwhile the section delivered immoderate documents to the Oversight sheet connected Aug. 22 successful effect to the earlier subpoena.
Khanna said 97% of those files had been antecedently made public.
“Less than 1 percent of files person been released. DOJ is stonewalling,” Khanna said successful response.
“The survivors merit justness and the nationalist deserves transparency.”
