GOP lawmakers at odds as Epstein fallout continues

CNN

2 days ago

Division between Republican lawmakers over the Jeffrey Epstein files continued to intensify even as President Donald Trump and his administration seeks to redirect scrutiny toward the president's political foes and the 2016 election.
Signs of mounting pressure to respond to calls for transparency appeared last week when a GOP-majority House Oversight subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files related to Epstein. House Oversight Chair James Comer has also subpoenaed Epstein's accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a deposition.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence in Tallahassee, Florida, for sex trafficking of minors also met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday and Friday for questioning.
Those developments come as some Republicans question the DOJ's handling of the files and others urge the administration to share unreleased information with the public.
Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison on Sunday called it a 'political mistake' for the administration to have raised expectations about new revelations related to Epstein.
'I think that part of this problem is that there were some false expectations that are created, and that's, that's a political mistake,' Burlison told CNN's Manu Raju. 'I think that saying that you're going to be able to deliver when you haven't even looked at all of the files and what's available was probably a misstep.'
Burlison has also said that a large percentage of the calls his office has received in recent days are related to the Epstein case, with many concerned the government might be keeping secrets from them. Now that House lawmakers are back in their districts for August recess, they'll likely be fielding questions about this directly from constituents.
On Friday, another GOP representative, Mike Kennedy of Utah, who is a practicing physician, compared the files to 'a festering oil-infected wound with pus underneath' that could get worse if not treated properly.
'In the case of this Epstein stuff, absolutely let it out,' he said.
Kennedy pledged to push for 'full transparency' in the matter and that he would 'vote immediately to get all that released,' permitted that the identities of victims are concealed.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna are trying to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on a separate bill calling for the release of the files. Massie, a Kentucky lawmaker who broke with Trump over the president's sweeping agenda bill, will need a majority of House members to sign on to their discharge petition to force a floor vote.
For his part, Johnson has repeatedly said he supports transparency. On Sunday, the Louisiana Republican defended his handling of the efforts to release Epstein-related information as he faces a split conference.
'Let me be absolutely clear. As we have been from the very beginning, House Republicans insist upon the release of all credible evidence and information related to Epstein in any way,' he said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
Massie and Khanna's petition, he insisted, was 'reckless in the way that it is drafted and presented,' arguing that it did not include adequate protections for victims. He also pushed back on claims he adjourned the House early for August recess to avoid the petition, pointing out the petition would not 'ripen' until Friday when the House was already scheduled to be out.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that Congress does not have the ability to force the release of the files, and that judges have to decide to release grand jury evidence, pointing toward a Florida federal judge declining to release additional grand jury documents last week.
'(Attorney General) Pam Bondi has called on the judges to release it. Trump has called on them to release it, and Congress has called on them to release it. But we can't, because there is a true co-equal branch of government so we can't force a judicial branch to do anything,' he said.
The grand jury testimony the department seeks to release, however, is only a small portion of the thousands of documents related to the Epstein investigation and criminal case. Many of those documents are already in DOJ custody and may not have been presented to the jury.
Judges have already released hundreds of documents in the Epstein saga. The majority of those held back were deemed unsuitable to be released because of federal laws that protect the privacy of Epstein victims and people not charged with crimes.
This all comes as Trump continues a five-day trip to Scotland, where he announced Sunday that the United States and the European Union reached a framework for a trade deal after talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
When asked by a reporter at press conference if part of the reason for getting the deal done was to distract from the Epstein-related uproar, Trump said, 'You've got to be kidding me. No. It had nothing to do with it.'
The president has deflected questions on the topic, claiming limited knowledge on the investigation, even though reports have emerged that he was told in May by Bondi that his name appeared in the files.
Over the weekend, Trump also expanded his calls for the prosecution of political enemies. On Sunday, citing no evidence of wrongdoing, the president took to social media to call for the prosecution of former Vice President Kamala Harris and several prominent celebrities, including Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey, accusing them of illegally receiving payments in exchange for endorsing Democratic candidates, including Harris.
CNN has fact-checked the Beyoncé claim, and found it did not happen.
CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz, Kara Scannell, Aileen Graeff, Christian Sierra and Sarah Davis contributed to this report.