When the Epstein Files are released...

[Beebo Brink]

Or am I missing the point somewhere?

Forcing this out of committee and to a vote, makes every Republican House member, and then every Republican Senator, commit their vote to the public record. If they vote No, that WILL enrage their constituents and be used against them.

If Trump vetoes a bill that has been passed, he looks even guiltier than he looks now, which is pretty damn guilty.

And yes, he'll probably gin up another "investigation" in order to put the files out of reach again, but by doing so he's straining the credulity of his conspiracy followers. Not to mention it just drags the whole thing on and on, because it is not going away even when he buries it under red tape.

The harder he tries to hide this evidence, the more obvious it is that he is hiding it. And the more he hides it, the more people are convinced he has something to hide. It's a lose-lose for him either way.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I'm not sure it'll really make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Trump could literally rape a five-year-old in the middle of Times Square and not lose a single one of his voters. Such is the way of cults.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Forcing this out of committee and to a vote, makes every Republican House member, and then every Republican Senator, commit their vote to the public record. If they vote No, that WILL enrage their constituents and be used against them.

If Trump vetoes a bill that has been passed, he looks even guiltier than he looks now, which is pretty damn guilty.

And yes, he'll probably gin up another "investigation" in order to put the files out of reach again, but by doing so he's straining the credulity of his conspiracy followers. Not to mention it just drags the whole thing on and on, because it is not going away even when he buries it under red tape.

The harder he tries to hide this evidence, the more obvious it is that he is hiding it. And the more he hides it, the more people are convinced he has something to hide. It's a lose-lose for him either way.

That's assuming it comes to a vote in the Senate, though

When will the Epstein files be released?

US President Donald Trump signed a bill into law last month that set a 19 December deadline, but questions remain.

www.bbc.co.uk

The measure is likely to pass. Even before Trump's post, some House Republicans had made clear they were willing to break ranks with the president and House Speaker Mike Johnson to vote in favour.

Should it pass, it still faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which is under no obligation to even pick up the measure.

It remains unclear whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune will do so - but the Republican is under enormous pressure from both sides of the US political spectrum.

He had previously suggested that while he was "not hearing" much desire from fellow Republicans to push for the release of the documents, a successful House vote could change that.

"I just hope John Thune will do the right thing," Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie told ABC News over the weekend.

Another Republican, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, only told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Senate will "take a look" at the bill if it passes the House.

"We'll see what it says," Barrasso said. "We all want accountability and transparency. But to me, this it not about the truth. It's not about justice."

"This is about an attempt by the Democrats to make President Trump a lame-duck president," he added. "And I'm not going to aid and abet them in their efforts to do that."

The main point of concern, or so it seems to me, for Republican legislators is most likely what happens next year in the midterm elections. After that people will be trying to position themselves for the 2028 presidential elections, in which, whatever he says now about somehow magicing the constitution so he can run, Trump -- by that time 83, I think, and clearly already in failing health -- is very unlikely to be the Republican candidate, so in a year's time he's going to be a "lame duck" one way or another anyway.

 

[Noodles]

I have seen it suggested enough that its probably true.

There is nothing legally stopping any member of congress from.taking the floor and reading the entire contents of the Trump/Epsteine files intonthe record.

 

[Free]

Needless to say, there will be no backlash against him (like if say Biden had said something like this to reporter).

Trump calls reporter ‘piggy’ when she asks about Epstein emails

President Donald Trump called a reporter "piggy" after she asked him about his name being mentioned in emails sent by convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

www.kgns.tv

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Needless to say, they'll be no backlash against him (like if say Biden had said something like this to reporter).

Trump calls reporter ‘piggy’ when she asks about Epstein emails

President Donald Trump called a reporter "piggy" after she asked him about his name being mentioned in emails sent by convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

www.kgns.tv

It's like the last years of Reagan's second presidency -- he was obviously suffering from dementia, but everyone was too polite to mention it. In fact, it probably worked to his advantage since it was all too credible that he had no idea what Oliver North and the rest of the crew were getting up to with Iran-Contra and the other shenanigans. Or if he knew about it at the time, he'd soon forgotten about it.

Trump's condition seems far worse than Reagan's, though, who I remember as just being passively and benignly gaga for the last couple of years.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Trump's condition seems far worse than Reagan's, though, who I remember as just being passively and benignly gaga for the last couple of years.

Reagan scared me. Trump enrages me.

 

[Soen Eber]

Reagan was a gentle soul who believed every thing his handlers at GE fed to him. Trump wants to burn the world down out of pique and unresolved anger issues with his parents, and he took his education from his Mafia contacts.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Reagan was a gentle soul

Reagan chose to launch his Presidential bid by making a speech appealing to States Rights at the Neshoba County Fairgrounds, a couple of miles from where Cheney, Schwerner, and Goodman were murdered by the Klan for registering African Americans to vote.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Reagan scared me. Trump enrages me.

Reagan overlapped with my 4 years of high school and 4 years of college. I still can't believe how politically oblivious I was, despite being terrified by the AIDS crisis. The Iran/Contra Ollie North stuff... I just dismissed as "our government does that shit all the time... Reagan was just sloppy and got caught". Other than the PATCO strike and my uncle getting fired when that went badly... I only remember the stupid Jelly Beans.

Shrub Sr was forgetable. Quayle was a joke. I moved to San Diego and was completely lost into corporate culture, constantly on-call at a company that was insane... and that overlapped almost exactly with the Clinton administration.

The Shrub Jr v. Gore election was where I started paying attention. The response to 9/11 and the WMD lie culminated in his shawk & aww pre-emptive attack on Iraq and... that sorta shredded and torched my idealistic attitude about the U.S., and not even Obama could mend that. I still remember being out to dinner with friends and the TV was on when the invasion/attack was announced. I blew my top. That whole administration was a constantly churning news cycle of one awful thing after another, so many so fast that none gained traction. It seemed like a trial run / prototype for the Trump administration.

And now we have Thunder Rump and his posse of John Wayne Gacy wanna-be's. I mean seriously... has so much of this country been brain-damaged by eating lead paint as children that they can't see that evil delusional ignorant jackas.... sigh. Okay okay. That's enough for today. Time to go focus on something more pleasant. Like scrubbing my toilets or something.

 

[Beebo Brink]

The Shrub Jr v. Gore election was where I started paying attention.

You have company in that. I was vaguely liberal, but found political news to be boring in the extreme. Then 9/11 happened and I wanted to understand why. Why did this happen?

Those first few years of transition from apathy to being politically aware were rocky. It was hard trying to figure out SO MUCH STUFF starting from ground zero, but (to my surprise) I stuck with it. There are still big holes from eras that I lived through, which is embarrassing, but at least now I know where to go to fill in the gaps from reputable sources.

 

[Free]

House approves Epstein files bill in near-unanimous vote

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to force the Justice Department to release more information about the case it built against the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — putting legislation on a track toward the desk of President Donald Trump, who spent months trying to kill it.

The 427-1 vote came after a long campaign to circumvent House Republican leaders and White House officials who fought tooth and nail to convince members of their party to oppose the measure. As Democrats sought to stoke division in the GOP over the administration’s decision to withhold further information in the Epstein case, the issue proved increasingly toxic for Republicans — and Tuesday’s vote became inevitable.

Trump turns around and tells the Republicans to do something, and boy do they do it.

Only Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), a fervent Trump loyalist, voted against it.

But Clay, Trump told you to vote for it! Some loyalist you are...

Victims of Epstein who had gathered in the House gallery cheered as the vote closed.

Hopefully that cheering is not short lived.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

427-1

From one of the links:

John Thune, the majority leader in the US Senate, says President Trump "sounds like he's prepared to sign" the bill to release the Epstein files, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

"We'll move fairly quickly over here," he added, referring to the bill's passage through the Senate.

He is then asked about potential changes that US Speaker Mike Johnson might want to make to the bill.

Thune responds: "I think there's some things he'd like to change but a 427-1 vote, it's not likely to happen."

I have a feeling they've already scrubbed every mention of Mango Moron.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Reagan was a gentle soul who believed every thing his handlers at GE fed to him. Trump wants to burn the world down out of pique and unresolved anger issues with his parents, and he took his education from his Mafia contacts.

I actually liked Reagan back in the day. I genuinely believed he meant well. Of course, I was young and sooo naive back then.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

427-1

From one of the links:



I have a feeling they've already scrubbed every mention of Mango Moron.

I'm sure they did.

Now, we wait to see what the Senate does with the bill. Trump is almost certain to veto it.

 

[Free]

I have a feeling they've already scrubbed every mention of Mango Moron.

Probably not just him.

Jeffrey Epstein’s Brother Claims He Heard ‘from a Pretty Good Source’ That Epstein Files Are Being Scrubbed of Republican Names

Mark Epstein, brother of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, alleged in an interview with NewsNation that the Epstein files are being edited to remove Republican names.

people.com

In a phone interview with NewsNation on Monday, Nov. 18, Mark claimed he had been told by an unnamed source that names of conservative politicians were being redacted from the long-awaited Epstein files. Mark's comments come shortly after President Donald Trump encouraged House Republicans to vote to release the files, a shocking reversal from his previous opposition to do so.

Mark claimed that the Trump administration's sudden shift is because the files are being edited so that they are no longer incriminating for Republicans in power.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Probably not just him.

I'm hoping it is just my dark cynicism talking, but I don't think the Epstein files are the deus ex machina we're all hoping for -- I suspect there's no deus in the machina anymore.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Congress acts swiftly to force release of Epstein files, and Trump agrees to sign bill

Both the House and Senate have acted decisively to pass a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

apnews.com

That was fast. I suspect any mention of a Republican has been scrubbed out.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

You have company in that. I was vaguely liberal, but found political news to be boring in the extreme. Then 9/11 happened and I wanted to understand why. Why did this happen?

Those first few years of transition from apathy to being politically aware were rocky. It was hard trying to figure out SO MUCH STUFF starting from ground zero, but (to my surprise) I stuck with it. There are still big holes from eras that I lived through, which is embarrassing, but at least now I know where to go to fill in the gaps from reputable sources.

I started paying attention in the run up to the Gore/Bush presidential election because I was young, stupid and thinking like an selfish Ayn Rand conservative. I snapped out of it before going to the polls though. I figured I'd rather keep less of my compensation than live in the toxic intolerant world the neocons were pushing for.

Been a straight ticket democrat since, with the exception of Gov Arnold. I was too pissed off at Grey Davis' inability to secure reliable electricity for California (I worked in a number of large corporate data centers and our rolling black and brown outs were hellishly stressful).

 

[Free]

Oh, a bit of a twist.