On his first full day again in Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson sat for hours in a closed-door interview with six girls who say they had been abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Johnson’s presence within the room on the primary day of a frenetically busy September on Capitol Hill underscores how important the problem of Epstein’s previous crimes has develop into throughout the GOP.
Within days, House Republicans are anticipated to take their first main flooring votes on forcing President Donald Trump’s administration to launch extra data associated to the case. And Johnson — like his members — is beneath intense pressure to fulfill the bottom’s calls for for transparency with out going towards the needs of the president, whose inside circle has tried to quiet this summer season’s political firestorm over Epstein.
“The fact that Mike Johnson sat there for two and a half hours — we’re serious about this,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer instructed reporters after leaving the assembly Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this right.”
Johnson himself instructed reporters the testimonials he heard had been “heartbreaking and infuriating” and mentioned “there were tears in the room. There was outrage.”
Five weeks in the past, Johnson and his management workforce had hoped that sending lawmakers residence early to their districts for their August recess would diffuse rigidity across the challenge. But the return of Congress to Washington confirmed that the pressure on GOP leaders has solely continued to construct.
That pressure on Republicans will dramatically improve on Wednesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie and his Democratic counterpart within the effort, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, will maintain a press convention by which a few of Epstein’s survivors are anticipated to talk publicly for the primary time.
Massie and Khanna are main a push to drive the complete House to vote on a decision that will require Trump’s Justice Department to show over all paperwork associated to Epstein or his crimes. Under their maneuver, identified as a discharge petition, Massie would wish simply 5 extra Republicans to drive the invoice to the ground since each Democrat is predicted to signal on.
So far, two different Republicans have signaled they’ll help it: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Other Republicans who’ve supported the bill itself — together with Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona and Tim Burchett of Tennessee — had been both noncommittal or prompt they might not help the discharge petition when requested by NCS on Tuesday.
The House Oversight Committee has been main an investigation into Epstein after some Republicans joined with Democrats to compel a subpoena to the Justice Department for data. The panel on Tuesday night time launched greater than 33,000 pages associated to the case – the entire subpoenaed paperwork the panel had obtained earlier this summer season.
But the general public launch of knowledge has not stopped the push for extra transparency that has ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson. Massie and Democrats mentioned almost all of these paperwork had already been made public as a part of varied court docket circumstances and that it didn’t alter their push for their very own Epstein measure.
As a part of its investigation, the Oversight Committee hosted a gathering on Tuesday with a number of survivors who’re planning to talk at Wednesday’s press convention. In that closed-door assembly, a number of of them shared chilling tales of abuse. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, one of many lawmakers within the room who has spoken out about being raped age 16, left the assembly in tears.
Inside the room, one survivor mentioned the ladies had been instructed by Epstein that they had been disposable and threatened towards coming ahead, based on an individual within the room who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate a non-public assembly. The girls had been instructed in the event that they went to police that Epstein had highly effective pals, that particular person mentioned.
If the bipartisan Epstein decision does go the House, its destiny is unclear within the Senate. But it will be a unprecedented transfer by a GOP-controlled Congress to take towards a president of its personal occasion.
To forestall such an escalation, Johnson and the White House are trying to promote their GOP members on an alternate path. They have backed a non-binding decision that encourages the Oversight Committee’s investigation. And Johnson pressured the significance of the work of that panel, partially by sitting in on one of many classes himself.
“I sat by him in our meeting and listened to his compassion for these survivors. I listened to his questions,” Greene mentioned of Johnson as she left the assembly. “I’ve listened to some of his plans that he has going forward. I do think he’s doing a great job there.”
Even so, Greene is among the three Republicans up to now prepared to buck her management on the discharge petition. She mentioned it was nothing towards Johnson personally, however that she determined: “I just think we need to do everything we can to bring it out.”
Inside the House GOP convention, some Republicans are privately dreading weeks of questions concerning the Epstein matter and would quite transfer onto points like appropriations, tariffs or Russian sanctions, based on a number of lawmakers and senior aides. But a lot of these GOP lawmakers additionally understand that there’s a small however vocal faction of their occasion that’s deeply invested in getting extra solutions on Epstein and that they’ll’t be seen as dropping the problem.
Democrats, in the meantime, are accusing Johnson of making an attempt to stonewall additional investigations in Congress.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico instructed reporters after the assembly that Johnson was advocating that the investigation ought to stay throughout the Oversight panel — quite than increasing the probe to incorporate extra committees.
“In the room with six victims of sexual violence by Jeffrey Epstein, it was suggested by Democrats that this be investigated using the full force of every committee here in Congress. And the speaker ended by saying he didn’t think that was necessary. He’d like to just keep it in the Oversight Committee,” Stansbury mentioned. “That is where the speaker actually chose to end this conversation.”
Johnson, talking after the Tuesday assembly, vowed “transparency” in releasing data to the general public, and mentioned that Trump shares the identical perspective.
“That’s his mindset. And he wants the American people to have information so they can draw their own conclusions. I’ve talked with him about this very subject myself.. He also, just as we do, is insistent that we protect the innocent victims, and that’s what this has been about,” he mentioned.