WASHINGTON – Congress returned from its summer recess this week and lawmakers immediately resumed their fight over how best to comply with public demands for more information about Jeffrey Epstein.
Democrats lined up to sign a “discharge petition” sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., that would force the consideration of a bill mandating the release of all files in the case of the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
Minnesota’s Republican lawmakers have not signed the petition, which, thanks to the support of three House Republicans, is just two votes shy of the 218 needed to compel a vote on the House floor.
Rep. Pete Stauber, R-8th District, said he backed the efforts of the Trump administration and GOP congressional leaders instead.
Stauber said he wants “maximum transparency” in the Epstein case.
He and all other Minnesota Republicans voted late Wednesday on a symbolic measure that would affirm the GOP-led House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the matter.
Related: ‘We want transparency’: Minnesota’s Congressional delegation comments on Epstein files
House GOP leaders have touted that investigation as a better alternative to the discharge petition, which would compel the release of materials in the Epstein case within 30 days.
Stauber said that investigation is “much more aggressive” than what the discharge petition would uncover, since the committee has a “timeline and subpoena powers.”
On Tuesday, the Oversight Committee released the first files it had received from the Justice Department on the sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend of Epstein’s who was convicted of sex trafficking and other crimes. But the files mostly contained information that was already publicly known.
A group of Epstein accusers who told harrowing tales of abuse at a news conference Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol disagreed with Stauber and the majority of House Republicans who prefer that the Oversight Committee handle the issues.
They pressed lawmakers to sign the discharge petition, saying it would result in the most complete release of information.
“Let the public know the truth,” said accuser Chauntae Davies. “We cannot heal without justice. We cannot protect the future if we refuse to confront the past.”
Jena-Lisa Jones said that after her encounter with Epstein, she cried “the entire way home, thinking about how I couldn’t ever tell anyone about what actually happened in that house.”
“This guy was so rich and had so many pictures with so many famous people and no one would have ever believed me if I told them,” Jones said.
Minnesota’s Democratic lawmakers have signed the discharge petition.
“It feels like there’s a cover up,” said Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, referring to what she said was insufficient material released by the Justice Department.
In a post Tuesday on social media, Rep. Angie Craig, D-2nd District, said “President Trump called Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of women a ‘hoax.’ My message to him: these survivors are real, and I will not let them be silenced. Today, I signed on to (the discharge petition).”
Calling it a “hostile act,” the White House has pressured GOP lawmakers who said they might sign the discharge petition.
And on Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the effort to force a House vote compelling the release of Epstein-related documents won’t succeed because it will lack the support of enough Republican lawmakers.
During Congress’ August recess, Trump asked the Justice Department to interview Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Justice Department transcripts of that interview show that Maxwell, who was subsequently transferred to a low-security prison, said she knew nothing of Epstein’s sex trafficking yet was sure Trump was not involved in any untoward activity.
Smith scorches RFK, Jr.
Sen. Tina Smith tussled with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during a rough-and-tumble Senate hearing Thursday.
“You have led the charge in the Trump administration to destroy what is best in the U.S. health care system,” Smith told Kennedy.
The Democratic senator also told Kennedy that he is “trafficking in fringe ideas, discredited ideas” and “seems willing to say anything in the moment even if it’s untrue.”
Kennedy was the sole witness at the hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, of which Smith is a member.
The hearing was convened following upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and frustration with his policies toward vaccines.
Smith said Kennedy claimed to not to be “anti-vax,” yet also said no vaccine was safe. Smith said “that sounds anti-vax to me.”
“When were you lying?” Smith asked.
“Both things are true,” Kennedy responded.
During an interview with Fox News after the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting last week, Kennedy was asked if he would look into the pharmaceuticals shooter Robin Westman may have been using.
He said he was interested in “the potential contribution of some of the (antidepressant) drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence.”
Kennedy also said the “black box” warning on many psychiatric drugs, which include antidepressants, warn of “suicidal and homicidal ideation.”
Smith, who has been candid about her experience with depression as a college student and a young mother, excoriated Kennedy for blaming school shootings on antidepressants.
Kennedy denied saying that. “You are just making stuff up,” he said.
The White House last month fired Susan Monarez as director of the CDC after she refused to resign amid pressure to change vaccine policy. That sparked the resignation of other senior CDC officials.
At Thursday’s hearing, Kennedy claimed that he asked Monarez to resign because she admitted she was not “trustworthy.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pointed out that Kennedy had praised Monarez as “unimpeachable” a month ago.
“And in a month, she became a liar?” Warren asked.
During the acrimonious hearing, Kennedy said he did not know how many Americans died of COVID-19.
The HHS chief also asserted “there are no cuts to Medicaid” in a recently approved Republican budget plan. Yet the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Medicaid provisions in the new law would increase the number of people without health insurance by 7.8 million.
Related: Do Pediatricians Recommend Vaccines To Make a Profit? There’s Not Much Money in It
Kennedy said lawmakers and doctors were beholden to pharmaceutical companies who enrich themselves from vaccines. He also kept up his criticism of the coronavirus vaccine during the hearing.
Kennedy was asked by both Democrats and Republicans how that gels with his belief that President Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s rush to create an effective vaccine for what was previously an unknown virus.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Kennedy, “I am a doctor. Vaccines work.”
After the hearing, Democratic Rep. Kelly Morrison of Minnesota’s 3rd District joined a group of House Democratic lawmakers — who, like her, are also doctors — at a news conference calling for Kennedy’s resignation.
“We cannot be complicit in letting political ideologues take over our scientific and public health institution,” Morrison said.
In other news:
- Was the shooting that killed two children at Annunciation Catholic Church a religious hate crime? FBI director Kash Patel says so, but we took a closer look that suggests it might not be that clear.
- Matthew Blake wrote about Gov. Tim Walz’s ideas for a special session to address gun violence — and what lawmakers in a divided Legislature actually want.
- Meanwhile, Brian Arola went north to talk with U.S. and Canadian mayors at a time when border crossings are dropping amid U.S.-Canada trade tensions.
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