Trump faces revolt on Epstein case: Republican strongholds push to release files; Democrats eye MAGA divide
Donald Trump
over his administration's refusal to release more information about pedophile
Jeffrey Epstein
.
Once some of Trump's closest allies, several far-right members of Congress are now publicly criticising his stance on the Epstein case and accusing the administration of backtracking on promises to reveal the full truth about the disgraced financier, reports New York Times.
The unrest comes as Trump also faces conservative pushback on foreign policy issues involving Iran and Ukraine.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
: 'A punch in the gut'
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who built her political career on populist rage and conspiracy theories, including those linked to Epstein, has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the administration's position on Epstein files.
'It's a full reversal on what was all said beforehand, and people are just not willing to accept it,' she told reporters.
Referring to the Justice Department's statement that no further disclosures about Epstein would be 'appropriate or warranted,' Greene said, 'I don't accept it, and I don't think anyone else should accept it.'
She added, 'It's a punch in the gut when regular people go to jail all the time, when they mess up and do something wrong, and then it always seems the rich, powerful elites escape.'
Nancy Mace: 'Every platform, every phone call'
Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina echoed the frustration, saying that calls for transparency on Epstein have dominated communication with her office.
'It's the only thing we've heard about for the last 100 hours,' she said. 'It's every social media platform, every phone call into the office.'
Mace said she supported the appointment of a special counsel to investigate whether evidence had been destroyed or key figures had been shielded. 'If the Justice Department can be more transparent on this, it would be best for the country,' she said. 'People don't trust the government, and we haven't given them much reason to over the past few years.'
Mike Johnson: 'Put everything out there'
Even Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a close ally of Trump, has cautiously sided with those seeking more openness.
'We should put everything out there and let the people decide,' he said during an appearance on The Benny Show. While Johnson added that it was 'not my lane,' he made clear he supported the general call for transparency.
Tim Burchett: 'Aggravated at Pam Bondi'
Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee stopped short of criticising Trump directly, but voiced displeasure over Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the case.
'I'm aggravated at Pam Bondi, claiming the list is on her desk,' he said, referencing earlier comments from Bondi suggesting she had access to Epstein-related material. Bondi's department later claimed no such list existed.
Still, Burchett avoided placing blame on Trump, saying, 'I haven't spoken to the president about it. I don't know the reasoning there.'
Thomas Massie and the Discharge Petition
Seeking to force the issue, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said he would introduce a discharge petition to compel a floor vote on releasing Epstein files.
Discharge petitions, while rarely successful, can bypass leadership if they gather majority support.
Massie is also co-sponsoring a bill with Democrat Ro Khanna to declassify all non-sensitive Epstein documents, while protecting the identities of victims.
Democrats aware of the split
Democrats are closely watching the Republican split. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said, 'This is definitely not a reason for [Pam Bondi] to resign, because it's clear that Donald Trump is the one who is calling the tune here.'
While some GOP members push for transparency, the party leadership remains aligned with the president. Earlier this week, House Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal that would have forced a debate on the Epstein files. Only one Republican on the Rules Committee, Representative Ralph Norman, broke ranks to vote with Democrats.
Still, lawmakers like Representative Marc Veasey, a Democrat from Texas, said the push for the files transcends party lines: 'The president makes these claims, and people want to make sure children aren't being abused.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
27 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Iraqi police clash with paramilitary fighters who stormed government building
A gun battle erupted in Iraq's capital on Sunday between police and fighters from a state-sanctioned paramilitary force that includes Iran-backed groups, killing at least one police officer and leading to the arrest of 14 fighters, authorities said. The clash broke out in Baghdad's Karkh district after a group of fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) stormed an Agriculture Ministry building as a new director was being sworn in, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella group of mostly Shi'ite paramilitary factions that was formally integrated into Iraq's state security forces and includes several groups aligned with Iran. According to the Interior Ministry, the PMF fighters burst into the building during an administrative meeting, causing panic among staff who alerted police. Security sources and three employees at the scene said the fighters had wanted to stop the office's former director from being replaced. A statement from the Joint Operations Command, which reports directly to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, confirmed that the detainees were PMF members and had been referred to the judiciary. At least one police officer was killed and nine others were wounded, police and hospital sources said. Sudani ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the incident, the command said. The arrested fighters belong to 'PMF brigades 45 and 46', the statement added. Both brigades are affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, according to Iraqi security officials and sources within the PMF.
Indian Express
27 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Residents of another slum cluster asked to move, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta assures ‘complete justice'
Reiterating that unauthorised slums will be removed from Delhi, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday said that the government has allocated a budget Rs 700 crore to provide accommodation to eligible slum dwellers. 'Whenever slums need to be removed for any reason, arrangements are being made to provide houses to the eligible residents…,' she said at the 'Faatak wali jhuggi' near the railway crossing in Shalimar Bagh on Sunday morning. The Railways has issued a notice for the removal of the sum cluster, citing that it is located on railway land needed for the expansion of the Azadpur railway station. 'You will get complete justice. The Delhi government is fully committed to this,' Gupta told the slum dwellers. 'When a crisis came upon you, I came to meet you because the Delhi government is not in favour of removing slums without reason… If slums have to be removed for development projects or other legitimate reasons, the government will ensure proper rehabilitation for the eligible residents so they too can become part of Delhi's growth story,' she added. This comes amid the recent demolition of unauthorised slums at Madrasi Camp, Bhoomiheen Camp, Jailerwala Bagh Camp and Taimoor Nagar in the Capital. Taking on AAP and Congress, Gupta said that in the last 40 years, no development has taken place in Delhi's slums. 'These parties have only seen slum dwellers as voters and constantly tried to exploit them, while also damaging the city's geographical character,' she said. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said hundreds of slum dwellers in Delhi are going through the pain of being rendered homeless with their houses being destroyed by the BJP government, as he claimed that this 'atrocity' exposes the ruling party's 'insensitivity' towards the poor and its 'arrogance of power'. The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha shared a video of his recent visit to Delhi's Ashok Vihar area where houses of several people were brought down by the administration. The small houses in which they had settled their entire life were 'ruthlessly destroyed' by the BJP government, he alleged in his post in Hindi on X along with the video.
Indian Express
27 minutes ago
- Indian Express
From Obama's ‘treason' to missing gold reserves, the wildest conspiracy theories consuming Trump's Washington
OK, so US President Donald Trump's name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files. But who put it there? Could it possibly have been Barack Obama from his prison cell? Or a tranquilized Hillary Clinton? Oh wait, maybe it was etched onto the documents by Joe Biden's magical autopen. Or is that mixing up different scandals? It's so hard to keep up with the latest wild notions circulating in the capital and beyond. Washington is awash in conspiracy theories these days, a cascade of suspicion and intrigue promoted or denied in the Oval Office, ricocheting around Capitol Hill and cable news and propelled at warp speed across social media. No commander in chief in his lifetime has been as consumed by conspiracy theories as Trump, and now they seem to be consuming him. They have been the rocket fuel for his political career since the days when he spread the lie that Obama was secretly born overseas and therefore not eligible to be president. More than a decade later, Trump is coming full circle by trying to divert attention from the Epstein conspiracy theory with a new-and-improved one about Obama supposedly committing treason. The harmonic convergence of competing conspiracies has overshadowed critical policy issues facing America's leaders at the moment, whether it's new tariffs that could dramatically reshape the global economy or the collapse of ceasefire talks meant to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The Epstein matter so spooked Speaker Mike Johnson that he abruptly recessed the House for the summer rather than confront it. The allegations lodged against Obama so outraged the former president that he emerged from political hibernation to express his indignation at even having to address them. The whispers and questions — 'this nonsense,' as Trump put it — followed the president all the way to Scotland, where he landed Friday for a visit to his golf club. 'You're making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing,' he complained to reporters, suggesting, in his latest bid at conspiracy deflection, that instead of him, the news media should be looking at Epstein's other boldface friends like former President Bill Clinton. 'Don't talk about Trump,' he said. Conspiracy theories have a long place in American history. Many Americans still believe that someone else had a hand in killing President John F. Kennedy, that the moon landings were faked, that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job or that the government is hiding proof of extraterrestrial visitors in Roswell, New Mexico. Sixty-five percent of Americans told Gallup pollsters in 2023 that they think there was a conspiracy behind Kennedy's assassination. Some conspiracy theories do turn out to be true, of course, or have some basis. But presidents generally have not been the ones spreading dubious stories. To the contrary, they traditionally have viewed their role as dispelling doubts and reinforcing faith in institutions. President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Warren Commission to investigate his predecessor's murder specifically to keep rumors and guesswork from proliferating. (Spoiler alert: It didn't.) Trump, by contrast, relishes conspiracy theories, particularly those that benefit him or smear his enemies without any evident care for whether they are true or not. 'There have been other conspiratorial political movements in the country's past,' said Geoff Dancy, a University of Toronto professor who teaches about conspiracy theories. 'But they have never occupied the upper echelons of power until the last decade.' Conspiracy theories are not the exclusive preserve of Trump and the political right. Around the time of last month's anniversary of the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, some on the left once again advanced the notion that the whole shooting episode had been staged to make the Republican candidate into a political martyr. Trump, however, has stirred the plot pot more than any other major political figure. In the six months since retaking office, he has remained remarkably cavalier about suggesting nefarious schemes even as he heads the government supposedly orchestrating some of them. He suggested the nation's gold reserves at Fort Knox might be missing, resurrecting a decades-old fringe supposition, even though he would presumably be in position to know whether that was actually true, what with being president and all. 'If the gold isn't there, we're going to be very upset,' he told reporters. It fell to Scott Bessent, the decidedly nonconspiratorial Treasury secretary, to burst the bubble and reassure Americans that, no, the nation's reserves had not been stolen. 'All the gold is present and accounted for,' he told an interviewer. Trump has played to long-standing suspicions by ordering the release of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., an act of transparency for historians and researchers that may shed important light on those episodes. But Trump has gone beyond simple theory floating to make his own alternate reality official government policy. Some applicants for jobs in the second Trump administration were asked whether Trump won the 2020 election that he actually lost; those who gave the wrong answer were not helping their job prospects, forcing those rooted in facts to decide whether to swallow the fabrication to gain employment. Trump has likewise claimed that Biden was so diminished toward the end of his term that his aides signed pardons without his knowledge using an autopen. Biden was certainly showing signs of age, but the autopen story was conjecture. Asked if he had uncovered proof, Trump said, 'I uncovered, you know, the human mind. I was in a debate with the human mind and I didn't think he knew what the hell he was doing.' The past week or so has seen a fusillade of Trumpian conspiracy theories, seemingly meant to focus attention away from the Epstein case. Tulsi Gabbard, the president's politically appointed intelligence chief, trotted out inflammatory allegations that Obama orchestrated a 'yearslong coup and treasonous conspiracy' by skewing the 2016 election interference investigation — despite the conclusions of a Republican-led Senate report signed by none other than Marco Rubio, now Trump's secretary of state. She also claimed that Hillary Clinton was 'on a daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers' during the 2016 campaign. Relying on this, Trump accused Obama of 'treason,' suggesting he should be locked up and going so far as to post a fake video showing his predecessor being handcuffed in the Oval Office and put behind bars. The idea of a president posting such an image of another president would once have been seen as a shocking breach of etiquette and corruption of the justice system, but in the Trump era it has become simply business as usual. For all that, the conspiracy theorist in chief has not been able to shake the Epstein case, which reflects the rise of the QAnon movement that believes America is run by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Most of the files, the ones that his attorney general told him include his name, remain unreleased, bringing together an unlikely alliance of MAGA conservatives and liberal Democrats. It was well known that Trump was friends with Epstein, although they later fell out. So it's not clear what his name being in the files might actually mean. But Trump is not one to back down. Asked last week about whether he had been told his name was in the files, Trump again pointed the finger of conspiracy elsewhere. 'These files were made up by Comey,' he told reporters, referring to James Comey, the FBI director he had fired more than two years before Epstein died in prison in 2019. 'They were made up by Obama,' he went on. 'They were made up by the Biden administration.' The theories are endless.
