Epstein affair | Several Republicans would vote for the publication of the documents

(Washington) Ignoring pressure from their party leadership, a large number of Republican representatives will vote this week in favor of a bill authorizing the disclosure of records related to the investigation involving Jeffrey Epstein, supporters of the measure predict.

This bill would require the Justice Department to release all records related to Epstein, as well as any information regarding the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information regarding Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations may be redacted.

“More than 100 Republicans will vote in favor of the bill,” says Republican Representative Thomas Massie. I hope to obtain a sufficient majority to override a veto. »

Mr. Massie and fellow Democrat Ro Khanna launched proceedings in July aimed at forcing the Speaker of the House, Republican and Donald Trump ally Mike Johnson, to hold a vote on the issue.

Mr. Johnson preferred to send elected officials home for the summer vacation.

Democrats also accused him of delaying the swearing-in of Rep. Adelita Grijalva. The elected official from Arizona was finally able to do it last week and became the 218^e member of the House to sign the procedure, the minimum threshold to require a vote.

Mr. Massie predicts that the Johnsons, Trump and company, will suffer “a heavy defeat.”

Mr. Khanna expressed more modest expectations, saying 40 or more Republicans would join the initiative.

“I don’t even know to what extent Trump was involved,” he admitted. There are many other people involved who need to be held accountable. »

Mr Khanna also asked the President to meet victims. Some of them will be present at the Capitol on Tuesday for a press conference, he announced.

Massie says Republican lawmakers who fear losing Mr. Trump’s support because of their vote could suffer politically in the long run.

Even Mike Johnson expects his colleagues to overwhelmingly support the bill.

“We’ll just sort this out and move on.” “There’s nothing to hide,” he said, adding that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had already disclosed “much more information.”

The vote comes at a time when new documents raise new questions about Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. For example, the sexual predator wrote to a reporter in 2019 that Donald Trump “knew about the girls.” The White House accused Democrats of selectively releasing these emails in order to smear the Republican president’s reputation.

Mr. Johnson claimed that Mr. Trump “had nothing to hide about this.”

“They’re doing this to attack President Trump, assuming he had something to do with this. This is not the case,” he said.

The links between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein are already well established. The president’s name was included in documents released in February by his own Justice Department as part of an effort to satisfy public interest in information emerging from the sex trafficking investigation.

Mr. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the mere fact that a person’s name appears in the investigation’s records does not imply otherwise. Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial, also had many prominent acquaintances in political and celebrity circles besides Trump.

Even if the bill passes the House of Representatives, there is no guarantee that Senate Republicans will approve it. Mr. Massie says he just hopes Senate Majority Leader John Thune “does the right thing.”

“The pressure will be strong if we obtain a massive vote in the House,” he emphasizes.