House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he will vote for the Epstein bill, despite what he called its “serious deficiencies.”
“I’m going to vote to move this forward. I think it could be close to a unanimous vote, because everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show there’s a maximum of transparency. But they also want to note that we’re demanding that this stuff get corrected before it ever moves through the process and is completed,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference.
Johnson said he shared his concerns about the bill with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and said he expects the Senate to amend it if senators take it up.
“And so I’m very confident that when this moves forward in process, if and when it is processed in the Senate — which is no certainty, that that will be — that they will take the time methodically to do what we have not been allowed to do in the House, to amend this discharge petition and to make sure these protections are there,” he said.
Johnson reiterated his reservations about the current bill while standing beside a large poster that described the “dangers of the discharge petition if not amended.” He said the current version does not do enough to protect victims and is written in such a way that could require the release of child sexual abuse material, information exposing whistleblowers or other material about investigative sources and methods.
The speaker called the vote a “political show vote,” adding “clearly this is a political exercise for Democrats, and a few others.” He said the “most valuable information” released so far on the Epstein case has come from his estate. Those materials have been released by the House Oversight Committee.
House vote on Epstein files bill expected around 2 p.m.
The House convened at 10 a.m. for morning speeches and will meet at noon for legislative business, beginning with debate over a rule for a package of bills, according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office.
The House will then debate the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with a vote on final passage expected between 2 and 2:15 p.m. ET.
You can watch a live stream of proceedings on the House floor in the video player at the top of this page.
Epstein survivor Danielle Bensky: “We need the facts before we can move forward”
In an interview with CBS News’ Major Garrett, Danielle Bensky spoke out about her experience with Epstein as a teenager and called for the release of all the files.
“We need the facts before we can move forward,” she said. “We want them to release everything.”
“You’ve heard from a ton of survivors. There are a thousand of us. And we always say, this is not political. It is a human issue. It is a moral issue,” she said.
Bensky described being a young dancer pressured into doing what Epstein wanted. “I see my 17-year-old self in those files,” she said. “I want to be able to hug my 17-year-old self and say, ‘It’s all going to be OK, other women will not have to go through this,’ and mean it.”
Larry Summers says he’s “stepping back from public commitments” over Epstein emails
Former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Larry Summers said Monday he’s “stepping back from public commitments” after messages between him and Epstein were released last week.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers said in a statement. “While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”
Dozens of messages between Summers and Epstein were included in a trove of documents from Epstein’s estate that was released by the House Oversight Committee last week, including emails exchanged during the last years of Epstein’s life, even as the accused sex trafficker’s public notoriety grew.
In one March 2019 exchange, the pair appeared to banter about a woman that Summers knew in London, with Epstein seeming to offer advice to the Harvard professor.
“I said what are you up to,” Summers wrote in part of one message, describing a conversation with the woman. “She said ‘I’m busy.’ I said awfully coy u are.”
Epstein’s reply read, in part: “shes smart. making you pay for past errors.”
Read more here.
Joe Walsh, Graham Kates
Greene: Epstein fight has “ripped MAGA apart”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reflected on her long support for Mr. Trump and his “Make America Great Again” political movement and lamented that the fight over the disclosure of the Epstein files has “ripped MAGA apart.”
“This has been one of the most destructive things to MAGA, is watching the man that we supported early on, three elections, for people that stood hours, slept in their cars to go to rallies, have fought for truth and transparency and to hold what we consider a corrupt government accountable, watching this actually turn into a fight has ripped MAGA apart,” she said.
Greene said “the only thing that will speak to the powerful, courageous women behind me is when action is actually taken to release these files, and the American people won’t tolerate any other bull***.”
