WASHINGTON (AP) — In a close vote, Senate Republicans defeated Democrats’ efforts on Wednesday, inserting language into Congress’s annual defense approval bill. Jeffrey Epstein.
The Senate voted 51-49 to reject the bill’s change, with Republican Senators from Missouri and Rand Paul from Kentucky joining all opposing Democrats.
For months, Democrats have been asking for the release of what has become known as the Epstein Files. president Donald Trump While he was running for president, he signaled his openness to announce the full accounting of the case, but is now trying to dismiss the push as a “Democrat hoax.”
So far, Democrats have managed to force Republican leaders to tackle the issue, but it was unclear whether Trump’s detention of Republicans in Congress could actually be resolved through Congress.
“After a year of asking Republican colleagues to accountability and transparency to get to the bottom of these terrible crimes, why don’t you vote for Jesus?” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday.
Democrats in New York manipulated early Wednesday to force the Justice Department to make a procedural vote on language that would force the Department of Justice to release the Epstein Files, and inserted it into the annual defense policy bill that Congress must pass. Senate Republican leaders were forced to vote to distribute Schumer’s amendments, claiming he was inserting political conventions into the defense law, which often enjoys bipartisan support.
“This is not the right way,” said Sen. Mike Round, a South Dakota Republican.
Senate majority leader John Toon said earlier this week that the Justice Department has “already released a large number of files” in Epstein.
“I trust them in that they have the confidence to get as much information as possible in a way that protects the rights of the victims,” says Thune, Rs.D.
Still, many people and some of those on Republican bases Victims of Epstein’s abuse – I’m unhappy with the Department of Justice’s release so far.
Epstein’s appeal for disclosure of his lawsuit was even more political than when he was waiting for trial in 2019 on charges that he said he had abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls. The lawsuit comes more than a decade after secretly cutting contracts with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical claims. Epstein Condemned Paying minor girls hundreds of dollars of cash for massages and abuse them.
Asked by a reporter on Wednesday why Democrats didn’t ask for disclosure when they controlled the White House, Schumer replied, “They lied about it in every way, and the demands of the American people are so great.”
“This need is bigger than ever,” he added.
Meanwhile, another effort to vote for a similar bill in the House of Representatives that advanced.
D-Va. When Rep. James Walkinshaw took office after winning a special election this week, Democrats won another House seat. It gives them another supporter for the process of voting for a law that would force Republican leaders to steer around control of the House floor and force the Justice Department to publish the Epstein Files.
Four Republicans have also signed discharge petitions. This means getting the support you need to force your vote. That could happen soon at the end of this month, when Arizona’s severe blue legislative district holds special elections to fill vacant seats.
