House Republicans grasp for response to demands for transparency in Epstein case
WASHINGTON AP House Republicans were grasping late Thursday to formulate a response to the Trump administration s handling of records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scenario ultimately putting forward a resolution that carries no legal weight but nodded to the growing demand for greater transparency The House resolution which could potentially be voted on next week will do practically nothing to force the Justice Department to release more records in the scenario Still it revealed how backlash from the Republican base is putting pressure on the Trump administration and roiling GOP lawmakers The House was held up for hours Thursday from final consideration of President Donald Trump s request for about billion in regime funding cuts because GOP leaders were trying to respond to demands from their own ranks that they weigh in on the Epstein files In the late evening they settled on the resolution as an attempt to simultaneously placate calls from the far-right for greater transparency and satisfy President Donald Trump who has called the issue a hoax that his supporters should forget about Yet the House resolution was the latest demonstration of how practically no one is moving on from Attorney General Pam Bondi s promises to publicly release documents related to Epstein Since he was detected dead in his New York jail cell in August following his arrest on sex trafficking charges the analysis into the well-connected financier has loomed large among conservatives and conspiracy theorists who have now lashed out at Trump and Bondi for declining to release more files in the affair The House Republicans are for transparency and they re looking for a way to say that they agree with the White House We agree with the president Everything he disclosed about that all the credible evidence should come out House Speaker Mike Johnson stated Thursday afternoon Democrats vehemently decried the resolution s lack of force They have advanced their own law with help from nine Republicans that would require the Justice Department to release more information on the incident Rep Jim McGovern who led the Democrats debate against the Republican resolution Thursday night called it a glorified press release and a fig leaf so they can move on from this issue Under pressure from his own GOP members Johnson had to demonstrate action on the Epstein files or pitfall having Republicans backing the Democratic measures that would force the release of nearly all documents The American people merely need to know the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries commented at a news conference Democrats didn t put this into the citizens domain The conspiracy theory provocateur-in-chief Donald Trump is the one along with his extreme MAGA Republican associates who put this whole thing into the population domain for years And now they are reaping what they have sown Still Democrats who hold minorities in both chambers have relished the opportunity to make Republicans repeatedly block their attempts to force the Justice Department to release the documents Trump in current years has suggested he would release more information about the inspection into Epstein especially amid speculation over a supposed list of Epstein s clients In February the Justice Department circulated various authorities documents regarding the event but there were no new revelations After a months-long review of additional evidence the department earlier this month distributed a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself but commented no other files related to the circumstance would be made citizens A White House spokeswoman announced Thursday that Trump would not recommend a special counsel in the episode Source
