{"id":11998,"date":"2025-07-23T11:17:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T03:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11998"},"modified":"2025-07-23T11:17:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T03:17:22","slug":"democrats-play-hardball-on-epstein-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11998","title":{"rendered":"Democrats play hardball on Epstein files"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Democrats are showing they\u2019re ready to get dirty and hit President Trump where it hurts by stoking the Jeffrey Epstein controversy that\u2019s severed his MAGA movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy strays from the official line coming from top Democrats such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), who say they want their midterm campaign message to center on Medicaid cuts and other kitchen-table policies contained in Trump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the focus on Epstein has also been remarkably successful, energizing the Democratic grassroots and aggravating tensions within the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this week, it prompted Republican leaders to scrap their legislative plans and head early into the long summer recess \u2014 all to avoid votes on the Epstein saga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even traditionalist Democratic veterans are applauding the tactic for its effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as we don\u2019t live in the mud, crawling down in the mud every now and then is not bad, in the political arena,\u201d Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case of Epstein, the late financier and convicted pedophile, has roiled the Trump administration in recent weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released an unsigned memo saying Epstein did not have a \u201cclient list\u201d and that there was no evidence that he sought to blackmail global \u201celites\u201d who might have committed sex crimes or other offenses. The DOJ also said it would not release any more documents surrounding the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memo directly contradicted claims from Trump, who had campaigned on the notion of releasing at least some of the files, and many prominent figures in his orbit, who have long claimed that Epstein operated an extensive pedophile ring that involved some of the world\u2019s most powerful people \u2014 a criminal enterprise that was covered up by the government to protect those same elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the loudest promoters of Epstein-related conspiracy theories have since been appointed to top positions in the Trump administration \u2014 including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, Patel\u2019s deputy director \u2014 feeding expectations from Trump\u2019s supporters that the files would soon be released. In February, Bondi had fueled those expectations further when she said she had the \u201cclient list\u201d on her desk and was preparing to release it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOJ memo dashed the hopes of many of the MAGA faithful, fracturing the movement that\u2019s stood at the heart of Trump\u2019s political ascension. And Democrats have found rare success in dumping salt on the wound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At every turn, Democrats are publicly bashing the administration for reneging on promises to release the Epstein files, aggravating the unusual split within Trump\u2019s far-right MAGA base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re demanding votes on bills to force the Justice Department to release those files, paralyzing House floor activity on the Republicans\u2019 preferred legislative agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they\u2019re backing an obscure procedural maneuver designed to force a floor vote on the Epstein files in the fall, ensuring that the national debate on the sordid episode \u2014 and the headaches it\u2019s created for Trump and the GOP \u2014 will endure for at least a few more months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a cover-up of epic proportions, where you\u2019ve got the majority party literally having us leave Congress early, and not having the Rules Committee meet, because they don\u2019t want to deal with releasing the Epstein files,\u201d Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe story\u2019s not going to go away because, at core, this is an issue about underage women who are sexually abused and assaulted,\u201d he continued. \u201cAttorney General Pam Bondi should not be protecting Epstein\u2019s legacy, nor his clients, nor should congressional Republicans be doing the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Epstein saga has created a huge headache for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders in the Capitol, who have struggled to contain the unrest within a GOP conference that\u2019s divided over whether the Epstein documents should be released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, the Democrats\u2019 vows to continue pushing Epstein resolutions brought action on the Rules Committee to a screeching halt, which in turn prevented Republicans from bringing their week\u2019s planned agenda to the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without bills to vote on, Johnson on Tuesday announced that the House will leave Washington on Wednesday, rather than Thursday, for the long summer recess. He insisted the move was not intended to shield Republicans from tough Epstein votes \u2014 or protect Trump from potentially embarrassing disclosures \u2014 but to end the Democrats\u2019 \u201cpolitical games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want any individual who\u2019s been involved in any way in the Epstein evils to be brought to justice as quickly as possible,\u201d Johnson told reporters. \u201cWhat we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats\u2019 political games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complicating Johnson\u2019s efforts, some Republicans have joined Democrats in demanding the release of the Epstein documents. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is a top sponsor of legislation that would force the DOJ to release the records, and he\u2019s also leading the effort to force a vote on that bill through a discharge petition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the obscure rules governing that procedural gambit, a vote on the underlying Epstein proposal won\u2019t happen until after Congress returns from the long summer recess in September\u2014 a timeline all but ensuring that the issue won\u2019t go away anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffries this week downplayed the focus on Epstein, saying Democrats hope to target the major pieces of Trump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful bill,\u201d particularly the cuts to Medicaid and food stamps that were included to help pay for tax cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other party leaders, however, said Democrats have no intention of taking their foot off the gas when it comes to attempting to release the Epstein files \u2014 and highlighting his ties to Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to support those efforts,\u201d said Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chair of the House Democratic Caucus. \u201cDonald Trump and his son and his closest friends spent years fanning the flame of this theory, and now we\u2019re holding them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo they want to protect the rich and the powerful? Or do they want the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats are showing they\u2019re ready to get dirty and hit President Trump where it hurts by stoking the Jeffrey Epstein controversy that\u2019s severed his MAGA movement. The strategy strays from the official line coming from top Democrats such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), who say they want their midterm campaign message to center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2078,3499,3498],"class_list":["post-11998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-democrats","tag-hardball","tag-play"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats play hardball on Epstein files - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11998\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats play hardball on Epstein files - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Democrats are showing they\u2019re ready to get dirty and hit President Trump where it hurts by stoking the Jeffrey Epstein controversy that\u2019s severed his MAGA movement. 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