Committee Democrats had planned to force a vote on a resolution calling for the public release of Epstein-related documents
  • moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub
    4131·
    3 days ago

    The Democrats are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. There’s nothing there, nothing of importance, and the Trump administration has already asked the courts to start working on the release, so there’s no point in the House getting involved anyway.

    This is such a non-issue that the Republicans have shut down the entire legislative session and won’t vote on any of their own bills until September. Again, Democrats are just trying to make a show out of nothing, which is why blocking it is the Republicans’ top priority. Their work would be redundant anyway, which is why the Republicans are so unafraid to vote on it that everyone just up and left.

    On an unrelated note, my favorite local restaurant is so clean and compliant with all regulations that when visited by the food inspector they turned out the lights, locked all the doors, and refused to serve any food again until the health department leaves. As one does when they’re unafraid and have nothing to hide.

  • Cyberflunk@lemmy.world
    225·
    3 days ago

    https://www.perplexity.ai/search/67b91960-caf9-4199-8315-932b7abebc38#0

    Did Mike Johnson Backtrack on Epstein Report Release?

    Johnson’s Public Position on Epstein Report

    • Previously, House Speaker Mike Johnson had publicly expressed support for releasing the Justice Department’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, echoing calls from both the MAGA base and House Democrats for “everything” to be disclosed:

      “It’s a very delicate subject, but we should — we should put everything out there and let the people decide it,” Johnson said just days before the controversy escalated[1].

    • Johnson also stated, “House Republicans advocate for transparency and are seeking ways to demonstrate that. … I have been unequivocal, and the members have expressed the same”[2].

    What Changed?

    • Despite these statements, Johnson reversed course this week, saying that he would NOT hold a House vote on measures related to releasing the Epstein files before Congress left for its August recess[1][3][4].
    • In explaining the move, Johnson argued there was “no purpose for Congress to urge an administration to do something they’re already doing,” referring to ongoing internal Justice Department processes[5][6].
    • He blamed Democrats for pushing the issue as “political games”—even as a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Thomas Massie, continued working to force a vote when Congress returns in September[6][3].

    Shutting Down the Floor

    • Republicans on the House Rules Committee refused to allow votes on any bills this week, out of fear Democrats would attempt to force amendments calling for the release of the Epstein files[4][7].
    • This led Johnson and GOP leaders to shut down the House early, cancelling scheduled votes and starting their August recess a day ahead of plan, essentially blocking any immediate action on the Epstein documents[8][2][6][9].
    • Johnson’s move has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum, with some accusing him of putting party politics and Trump’s interests ahead of transparency and public interest[2][1][10][11].

    Summary Table: Johnson’s Stance vs. Actions

    What Johnson Said What Johnson Did
    Supported full transparency[1] Blocked a House vote on Epstein files before recess[6][2][3]
    Urged release of all files[1] Sent House home early to avoid the vote[8][2][6][9]
    Blamed Democrats for drama[2] Accused of shielding the White House from scrutiny[11][2]

    Key Takeaways

    • Mike Johnson initially voiced support for releasing the Epstein report, backing full transparency.
    • He then blocked a House vote and adjourned Congress early, delaying any legislative push for disclosure.
    • Public reaction has been critical, with many seeing this as Johnson reversing himself to sidestep political fallout and protect the White House[1][2][4][11].

    This sequence highlights a sharp contrast between Johnson’s earlier rhetoric on transparency and his recent actions to halt legislative business on the Epstein files.

    Sources [1] Speaker Mike Johnson Backtracks on Call for DOJ to Release Epstein Files https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/22/headlines/speaker_mike_johnson_backtracks_on_call_for_doj_to_release_epstein_files [2] Mike Johnson Under Pressure Over Shutting Down House to Stop Epstein Vote https://www.newsweek.com/mike-johnson-epstein-vote-house-2102804 [3] Johnson shuts door on House vote before September on releasing Epstein files https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/21/politics/epstein-files-house-vote-gop-johnson-massie [4] House stymied as Speaker Johnson’s hand-picked committee rebels over Epstein https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5414582-speaker-johnson-rules-committee-epstein/ [5] House ending session early as Republicans clash over Epstein vote https://apnews.com/article/congress-jeffrey-epstein-trump-f2a03eca247268b14a9e38858338eded [6] Johnson ending legislative session early over Epstein controversy as some Republicans demand answers https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-paralyzed-epstein-files-2nd-week-row/story?id=123953105 [7] House largely grinds to a halt over Epstein files https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/22/house-republicans-epstein-files-mike-johnson/ [8] Epstein crisis forces Republicans to shut down House early https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/22/congress/house-gop-huddles-on-epstein-drama-00466738 [9] Johnson Cuts Short House Business to Avoid Vote on Releasing Epstein Files https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/us/politics/mike-johnson-ends-house-session-epstein-vote.html [10] Speaker Johnson reverses course on Epstein transparency, realigns with Trump https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/speaker-johnson-reverses-course-epstein-transparency-realigns-trump-rcna220197 [11] Johnson Does a Full 180 on Epstein Files After Hearing ‘the President’s Heart’ https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/mike-johnson-shuts-down-house-trump-epstein-files.html [12] House cancels votes amid fight over Jeffrey Epstein files https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-cancels-votes-fight-jeffrey-epstein-files-rcna220238 [13] Johnson tries to contain Epstein dissent https://www.politico.com/newsletters/inside-congress/2025/07/23/johnson-tries-to-contain-epstein-dissent-00469082 [14] Johnson confirms: No vote on Epstein before recess https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/21/congress/johnson-epstein-vote-recess-00465643 [15] House Speaker Johnson explains why he won’t force … - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6spfpC4IAa8 [16] Johnson sending House home early amid push to force Epstein files vote https://www.cbsnews.com/news/johnson-house-recess-epstein-files-vote/ [17] Why House Republican leaders closed up shop to stop more votes on the Epstein files https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/epstein-files-trump-house-mike-johnson-rcna220266 [18] Johnson shuts down House for the summer to sideline calls for Epstein transparency https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/speaker-ends-house-session-early-as-gop-clashes-over-epstein-files-vote

  • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
    56·
    3 days ago

    The GOP till about a week ago: “we need to release the files!” The GOP now: “ we need to protect the philes!”

    • Soup@lemmy.world
      5·
      2 days ago

      Been way more than a week, so it’s nice to see that they’re struggling to get this one to go away. Good momentum, the US needs to keep it up.

      • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 days ago

        Yes definitely we need to spread the word and post it everywhere, make signs, call the radio stations if people still do that.

  • lmdnw@lemmy.world
    105·
    3 days ago

    “Christian” Mike Johnson doing his best to give cover to pedophiles. Wonder if him and his son discuss these sins at bedtime together while going over their porn monitoring.

    • floo@retrolemmy.comEnglish
      324·
      3 days ago

      Those quotation marks are unnecessary. This is hardly unusual behavior for a Christian.

      I’ve never met a Christian, who actually embodied Christian values. Every one of them, especially the more religious of them, is a lying bigoted hypocrite, who only gives a shit about themselves and their own family. Maybe I’ve met the wrong kind of Christians, but there it is.

      I have, however, met a great deal of atheists, who, in fact, do embody what Christians proselytize as their values. Kindness, acceptance, understanding, a duty to help others… in my life, the worst people I’ve ever met were strongly religious. And the best people I’ve ever met were atheists.

      ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • Jaysyn@lemmy.world
        4·
        3 days ago

        I’ve never met a Christian, who actually embodied Christian values.

        I actually have. They are rarer than crow’s teeth though.

        I agree that the atheists I know are generally better people, cheat less, have fewer criminal records, etc…

      • FabledAepitaph@lemmy.world
        173·
        3 days ago

        Completely agree with this. To be “Christian” is to embrace this concept of an in-crowd and an out-crowd; if you’re not part of “my” crowd you can literally go to fucking hell and my omnipotent God-ruler is going to make sure you’re punished eternally if you don’t do what I say.

        Being a shitty person is baked in at the deepest foundation of being Christian, and probably most types of religion tbh.

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
          8·
          3 days ago

          Just saw a fairly prominent example of this in a Denver restaurant owner - dude was quoting the Babble even as he was being accused of…checks notes…misusing PPP loan money. Never mind all that, don’t look into it, because he and his wife are magical xtians.

          (This is from back in March. He was arrested about a week ago because of his crimes.)

          https://www.denver7.com/news/front-range/denver/state-of-colorado-seizes-michelin-recognized-ajs-pit-bar-b-q-for-failure-to-pay-taxes

          The closing statement of several posts refer to us a “Christian grifters”… I had to laugh out loud as I read that… yes, we’re proudly Christian. Hard-working ppl that put everything on the line, to open businesses, provide jobs, training, support local schools & charities are definitely not grifters. Being that we’re Christian & proud to say so, I will reference john 8:7 (related to this public judgment of the situation)… “So when they continued asking Him, He lifted Himself up and said unto them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Jesus was talking about a prostitute in this verse, who was being publicly presented with her sin visible to everyone. They were going to publicly stone her. That was 2,000 years ago. I hope we’ve evolved since then… but maybe some of us haven’t.

          • Whostosay@sh.itjust.works
            5·
            3 days ago

            It’s crazy because what I read in that is

            “Don’t be a fucking hypocrite”, yet here is this dude embezzling money from the government and therefore the people while preaching the word of God.

      • Saleh@feddit.org
        11·
        3 days ago

        You know that people being in your face about something doesnt automatically mean they are serious about it and vice versa, people not being in your face about something doesn’t mean they aren’t serious about it.

  • ReallyAngryNerd@europe.pub
    19·
    3 days ago

    Time for the still sane Americans to decide if they still want a bunch of pedo’s and pedoprotectors to represent them. Decide if this might just be the final straw before springing to real action. Maybe they can now see that these people are so shameless, corrupt, criminal and whiteout morals, that one 9 to 5 protest every month or so isn’t going to impress these shitbags.

    • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
      7·
      2 days ago

      Lol IDK how you’ve lived through US politics in the past 10 years if you think there is literally anything that could turn these morons away from Trump. The Epstein files could be released and say “Donald Trump raped 30 teen girls on Epstein Island” and it wouldn’t change a thing.

      • InputZero@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 days ago

        They’d remark on how restrained he was, ‘he only had sex with 30 children, the Democrats murder hundreds of children every day to collect their adrenochrome.’

    • DicJacobus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32·
      3 days ago

      The insane outnumber them, and they made the decision a long time ago, the answer was yes.

      • Banana@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        3 days ago

        It’s not that the insane outnumber them, it’s that the military has crazy firepower and is controlled by trump loyalists, and they are willing to open fire on citizens. The sane people know that.

        The only hope is infiltrating the military i guess?

        • Soup@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 days ago

          The US fell into this nonsense long before Trump took it to full, unashamed facism. The people of that country had lots of time and opportunity to just simply not vote for the objectively evil people and even right now currently have the ability to vote.

          The amount of gerrymandering it would take to make a 10% minority pull off a win is so far beyond what we have today. But it’s not a 10% minority, it’s over 70 million people who handed Trump the popular vote. They could simply have just not done that but their hate and fear mean they’re more than happy to support such a wildly cruel party over and over again. It’s not the military that’s forcing them to vote for dear leader, not yet anyway, and there have been decades of opportunity to sort this shit out before this point.

          No weak excuses, that shithole country has forced its way into everyone else’s business and needs to shape the fuck up.

          • Banana@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            2 days ago

            Tbf I didn’t say anything about it being a 10% minority. But trump won with less than 50% of the popular vote which we know included voter suppression and straight doctoring votes, so I think the people who didn’t vote for him do outnumber those who did, but yes, it is definitely well over 70M people.

            I’m not making excuses at all, something must be done, but what do we expect? Their cops have insane fire power and will open fire on civilians, so I guess we just have to hope some people are willing to martyr themselves and commit suicide by cop?

            I hope for a revolution, but I understand why people might be afraid to stand up.

        • TurnOnTheSunflower@lemmy.world
          31·
          3 days ago

          Isn’t that why you have the second amendment in the first place? So that you can rise up against the state? Does not compute.

    • smeenz@lemmy.nz
      1·
      2 days ago

      Only trump’s name needs to be on the list to cause this reaction. They’re all in a cult.

    • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
      4·
      3 days ago

      I wish. There’s a permanent restricted airspace around the capitol. In the before times, an unauthorized aircraft would get in serious trouble with the FAA. Nowadays with the sycophantic dictator in charge, who knows what could happen.

      But it’d be a damn cool way to say your last words.

      • LePoisson@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 days ago

        Bro if you’re flying in restricted airspace near govt buildings you know what happens. You get intercepted by a fighter jet and either have a friendly escort out of the restricted area or you make friends with a missile and get obliterated.

        I would not recommend trying to find out which will happen.

        On a related note:

        I’ve been wondering if drones could be adapted to essentially act as glide bombs that could operate without direct control input. Those probably would get around most protections especially if they had a glide slope that they’d stay on if their systems were jammed electronically. Like they get launched, fly to whatever altitude they need to be at to take a long glide down, and just go for pre programmed coordinates.

        That’s probably something the war in Ukraine has either made a thing or it was tried and found to be dumb but I’ve not done research on it.

        It’s not like civilians are gonna get their hands on true missiles and launch systems. But civies could find a way to put together some drones packed with explosives pretty easily I imagine.

        • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 days ago

          I think you’re right about Ukraine doing such a thing. IIRC they used drones to destroy some Russian supply depots a month or two ago. Though I think those were cabled? Which I had never heard of until then, but hey, if it works it works.

    • SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      101·
      3 days ago

      Looked it up, and molestation apparently just involves touching, whereas rape involves intercourse. So it might be more accurate to say, “bunch of child rapists”. But even then, that probably doesn’t cover kidnapping, trafficking, abuse, drugging, and repeatedly raping a bunch of children for decades in a personal billionaire cult ring on a private island.

      Every person defending these monsters deserves to be alive in the most , , and public way. I am calling for absolute of the highest degree.

  • ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world
    37·
    3 days ago

    So, at what point do we decide they are not representing us, they are no longer a legitimate government, and we are going to rule without them?

  • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
    18·
    3 days ago

    Well from now whenever republicans defecate some sentences involving “but the kids” from their mouths the default reply should be “Oh like the time you didn’t release Epstein files?”