Dem
47
GOP
53
In a closed-door meeting in the basement of the Capitol, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) ordered his members not to sign the discharge petition written by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). If the petition gets a majority, the House will be forced to vote on a resolution urging the DoJ to release all the Jeffrey Epstein files, redacting only the names of the victims, not the perpetrators. Johnson argued that the approach of Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is satisfactory. Comer has asked the DoJ to please release some documents and they have (but heavily redacted); none of them have implicated anyone yet.
At the meeting, Massie argued that the DoJ can't be trusted. To make his point, he held up his phone showing the flight log of one of Epstein's flights. It was from the first DoJ document dump. Every name was redacted. It is very unlikely that everyone on the plane was a victim who had to be protected. Massie said: "What's clear is they're not redacting just to protect victims; they are redacting to protect reputations. Some of those people are probably innocent, but some of them are most certainly guilty."
To get out of committee, six Republican votes will be needed, assuming every Democrat votes for the petition. So far,
four Republicans have said they would sign: Massie, Nancy Mace (SC), Lauren Boebert (CO), and Marjorie Taylor Greene
(GA). Two more crazies Republicans are needed. Where are Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar when you need them?
Mace met with some of Epstein's victims on Tuesday and they told her their stories. As a recent survivor of sexual assault herself, Mace was very upset hearing their stories, which no doubt played a role in her bucking the leadership and signing Massie's petition. Mace left the room where she spoke with the victims in tears. She said she had a full-blown panic attack when listening to them.
Yesterday, Massie and co-sponsor Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) held a news conference, along with Greene and a number of the survivors. Here it is. We recommend that you watch Greene's speech (at 4:33). No, really. No Jewish space lasers. She makes a serious speech in her squeaky voice and Georgia accent defending and praising the women Epstein abused. She is actually quite capable of empathy when she wants to be. It is a bit surprising but it seems real. Take a look. It is perhaps noteworthy that the three Republicans other than Massie who have signed are all women. If you want to skip to the first survivor, go to 14:10. It is 93 minutes if you want to watch the whole thing. It is pretty horrific:
There is another development on the "client list" side of the Epstein files. You know who knows who the perpetrators were? The victims. Now they are getting together to compile their own list. Epstein accuser Lisa Phillips told NBC News that a number of the victims have their own individual lists and now they are coming together to compile a master list of perpetrators. Now that a number of the victims have come forward, others may be encouraged to join. It could be quite a list, and there is nothing Comer can do to stop them except... wait, look over there! It's a Mexican trans woman high school basketball player wearing a rainbow t-shirt with the "new" Cracker Barrel logo. If many rich and powerful people are on the list, there could be a lot of fireworks. There could be lawsuits, but do the perps really want to be cross-examined under oath in a public trial? (V)