Congressional Democrats have traditionally taken little interest in the Jeffrey Epstein saga, but as Donald Trump and his team struggle to defend their handling of the matter, and the president’s base expresses outrage, the party appears now to be operating under the axiom “when your foes are drowning, throw them an anvil.”
NBC News reported on the first Democratic effort to force the release of the investigatory files surrounding the late millionaire pedophile.
On Monday night, Democrats offered an amendment in the House Rules Committee to require a floor vote on releasing the Epstein files. Republicans, who control the Rules panel, voted it down 7-5. Notably, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, voted for the Democratic amendment. And another HFC member, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, didn’t vote.
Less than 24 hours later, as The New Republic noted, it happened again, this time on the House floor.
House Republicans on Tuesday blocked a rule to release the Epstein files, with zero Republicans supporting the measure. The final vote was 211 to 210. One Republican with a spine would have tipped the scale and given the American people greater transparency on the Epstein saga. Democrats attempted to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files, after Republicans struck down an amendment in the House Rules committee on Monday evening. The procedural maneuver, which would have triggered a vote on the amendment requiring Trump’s Justice Department to release the files within 30 days, was rejected yet again with all 211 ‘no’ votes coming from Republicans.
It’s worth noting that eight House Republicans chose not to participate in the vote: Barry Loudermilk and Buddy Carter of Georgia; Monica De La Cruz, Wesley Hunt, Morgan Lutrell and Michael McCaul of Texas; Kentucky’s Thomas Massie and Tennessee’s Andy Ogles.
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern, the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, told Axios, “These guys have [trafficked] in conspiracy theories for as long as I can remember, and it’s coming home to bite them in the a–, and they don’t know how to deal with it.” The Massachusetts congressman added that additional votes like these are probably on the way. “That was probably not the last time that you’re going to see us deal with this issue,” McGovern said after Tuesday afternoon’s close vote. Or put another way, as many congressional Republicans suggest they’d like to see more meaningful transparency related to this debacle, they’ll have other opportunities to prove they mean it.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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