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A United States House of Representatives push to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein cleared a significant hurdle November 12, as Democrats and a handful of Republicans reached 218 signatures to force a floor vote on a bill to release the files within 30 days.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still a long road ahead.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Republican leaders aligned with President Donald Trump\u2019s wishes by stalling Democrat-backed legislation to release the files. Trump, a onetime friend of Epstein, has faced persistent questions about what the files may show about the two men\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Bill sponsors Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna used an arcane procedural tactic called a discharge petition to secure floor consideration. The move came over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders. Johnson has argued that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee\u2019s ongoing effort is sufficient. The committee has released tranches of emails and other documents related to Epstein, most recently on November 12, a release that included emails from Epstein that discussed Trump.<\/p>\n For weeks, the discharge effort was stuck at 217 votes \u2013 one short of the required 218 \u2013 but supporters reached the magic number on November 12 when newly elected Representative Adelita Grijalva was sworn in 50 days after being elected, the longest delay in recent history.<\/p>\n Grijalva signed the petition shortly after her swearing-in, making the discharge official. Massie and three other Republican members \u2013 Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina \u2013 joined all Democrats in signing it.<\/p>\n Though Johnson could have delayed it further, he\u00a0said he would bring the measure for a vote the week of November 17.<\/p>\n Trump opposes further releases of Epstein material, writing on\u00a0Truth Social November 12 that Republicans should focus only on opening up the government, which was still shut down because of a funding impasse. \u201cThere should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else,\u201d his post said.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a guide to what happens next with this legislation and what\u2019s at stake.<\/p>\n Epstein\u00a0hobnobbed\u00a0with powerful people and received lenient treatment by the criminal justice system until the Miami Herald published an\u00a0extensive\u00a0investigation\u00a0into his case in 2018.<\/p>\n In 2005, Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein after reports that a 14-year-old girl had been molested at his mansion. A grand jury indicted Epstein in 2006 on a single count of prostitution and he was arrested. The FBI launched an investigation and was prepared to bring an indictment, but in 2008 Epstein pleaded to one state count of soliciting prostitution and one state count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He served about a year in jail, largely on work release.<\/p>\n The Miami Herald investigation found federal prosecutors and Epstein\u2019s lawyers covered up the scope of Epstein\u2019s crimes.<\/p>\n In July 2019, Epstein was arrested on\u00a0federal charges for recruiting dozens of underage girls to his New York City mansion and Palm Beach estate from 2002 to 2005 to engage in sex acts for money. He was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019, and investigators concluded he died by suicide.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has given conflicting information about what\u2019s in the Epstein files.<\/p>\n In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi released what she called the \u201cfirst phase\u201d of the declassified Epstein files, including flight logs, an evidence list and a redacted list of contacts. Bondi said the Justice Department would release more case files after redacting victims\u2019 names.<\/p>\n When Fox News host John Roberts asked Bondi in February whether her department would release a list of Epstein\u2019s clients, she\u00a0said, \u201cIt\u2019s sitting on my desk right now to review.\u201d<\/p>\n But in a July memo, the Justice Department said there was \u201cno incriminating \u2018client list\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,\u201d the memo said. \u201cWe did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.\u201d<\/p>\n The Massie-Khanna bill, titled the\u00a0Epstein Files Transparency Act, requires that no later than 30 days after the bill\u2019s enactment, the attorney general shall release \u201call unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials\u201d held by the Justice Department, the FBI and federal prosecutors\u2019 offices relating to Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who was\u00a0sentenced\u00a0to 20 years in prison for sexual exploitation and abuse of minor girls over the course of a decade.<\/p>\n These materials would include flight logs and travel records related to Epstein, documents related to people and companies connected to Epstein, prosecution documents and internal Justice Department communications about Epstein-related cases and material related to his death in custody.<\/p>\n Under the legislation, documents containing victims\u2019 identifiable information may be withheld or redacted. So would materials depicting child sex abuse, death or injury, or materials that would jeopardise an ongoing federal investigation, or prosecution or that would endanger national security. However, \u201cembarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity\u201d cannot be invoked to withhold material, the legislation says.<\/p>\n The\u00a0steepest hurdle\u00a0in the House was securing the 218th signature.<\/p>\n With that achieved, Khanna said he expects dozens more Republicans to vote for the bill than the four who signed on to the discharge petition, The Hill\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n If the legislation clears the House, it would head to the Senate. It would need 60 Senate votes to proceed to final consideration, meaning at least 13 Republicans would have to join all 47 Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents to advance. That\u2019s a challenging obstacle.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is treated the same as any other bill, solely subject to the discretion of the majority leadership,\u201d Donald Wolfensberger, a former staff director of the House Rules Committee, said.<\/p>\n In July,\u00a0reporters asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune whether any Senate Republicans supported forcing more Epstein file disclosure. He said he was \u201cnot hearing\u201d much desire within his conference to push the issue.<\/p>\n Thune said that when the House petition was still gathering signatures, and a successful House vote \u2013 especially with strong Republican support \u2013 could change that Senate calculus. But even if the Senate were to pass the legislation, the measure would face its stiffest test with Trump, who could veto the bill.<\/p>\n Overriding a presidential veto would require a two-thirds vote of both chambers, which would require substantial Republican support in opposition to their own party\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n If the measure became law, Trump could still find ways to neuter its impact.<\/p>\n \u201cThe implementation of its provisions would still rely on Justice Department compliance,\u201d a department that Trump has asserted significant control over, said Stanley Brand, a longtime Washington DC attorney who serves as distinguished fellow at Penn State Dickinson Law.<\/p>\n The Justice Department could argue to withhold certain documents, and resolving legal challenges to those decisions could put document releases at a standstill, Brand said.<\/p>\n \u201cComplex questions of standing and federal court jurisdiction to entertain such a suit would undoubtedly stall resolution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dave Aronberg, a Democratic former state attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida, said he expects the Justice Department to have \u201cwiggle room\u201d with the exceptions included in the legislation.<\/p>\n Still, he said, it would \u201ctake a lot of creativity to withhold documents relating to President Trump\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A United States House of Representatives push to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein cleared a significant hurdle November 12, as Democrats and a handful of Republicans reached 218 signatures to force a floor vote on a bill to release the files within 30 days. There\u2019s still a long road ahead. Recommended […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explained"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Who was Epstein?<\/h2>\n
What are the Epstein files?<\/h2>\n
What would the legislation do?<\/h2>\n
What are the bill\u2019s prospects for House passage?<\/h2>\n
What happens if the bill passes the House?<\/h2>\n
How much new material could come from the law\u2019s enactment?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"