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Republicans are SO predictable. Whenever they don’t like something, they gaslight the public by calling it “unnecessary.” We’ve seen it over and over: Why not pass federal IVF protections? “Unnecessary.” Why not investigate January 6? “Unnecessary.” Why not support a congressional discharge petition for the full release of the Epstein files? “Unnecessary.”
Now, whenever a Republican uses that word, you know exactly what’s happening: whatever they’re dismissing is actually critical to upholding American democracy. Time to log on.
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Ever since the Epstein scandal began spiraling, Republicans outwardly promised transparency and accountability. Instead, the public got a massively redacted dossier while Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, works overtime to further Trump’s agenda, calling a new congressional discharge petition to release the names “unnecessary.” Classic Republican.
“It goes further and it has the force of law, because we have subpoena authorities. It makes the discharge irrelevant and unnecessary," — Mike Johnson in reference to the Oversight committee's probe on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice released another batch of Epstein-related documents. Shockingly (not shocking at all), they were incomplete, heavily redacted exactly as this DOJ Deputy Chief had predicted in a recently leaked video from a Hinge date (you read that right):
Honestly, James O’Keefe—who broke this story—is the last person we trust to highlight here, but this post was later acknowledged directly by the DOJ (in a very odd post that seems to be a screenshot of someone’s Notes app???):
Anyway, this release of redacted files was also perfectly timed to blunt attention from Rep. Thomas Massie’s discharge petition for a full release. Massie had 215 signatures which was just three short of the 218 needed. That should have been the story.
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Instead, Mike Johnson made himself the story. He immediately called Republicans, pressuring them not to sign because the petition “unnecessary” now that the DOJ had released some files. Anna Paulina Luna, Ralph Norman, and Eric Burlison folded, withdrawing their support. Marjorie Taylor Greene confirmed what was happening: the White House was leaning hard on Republicans, and Johnson was enforcing it. Here’s the thing, if it’s so unnecessary, then why not just do it? No harm, no foul, right?
But this is the pattern in Republican politics. Every scandal involving elites gets buried the same way: delay, redact, procedural smokescreens, gaslight the public. Republicans have perfected this routine—from stonewalling January 6 hearings to shielding corruption probes—the goal is always the same: run interference long enough for the story to fade. Johnson even released the House early for the summer to help the story cool down. But Americans have refused to let the story fade. Conservative and liberal alike are locked in, united by a shared desire to see pedophiles brought to justice.
As the public pushes for truth, survivors are also signaling they’re done waiting for Washington. At a press conference on Wednesday, they stood together and warned: if Congress refuses to release the full files, they will release a list of names themselves. Survivors of Epstein’s abuse are no longer willing to let politicians, lawyers, or procedural games decide the public narrative. THey are taking control of it.
In a sad display of desperation, Trump separately tried to dismiss the press conference as a “Democratic hoax,” gaslighting over 100 known survivors of sexual assault by implying their testimony and pain are not real.
Johnson thinks he is protecting his caucus by keeping three signatures off the board. The DOJ hides behind blacked-out pages. Trump mocks the story in public. But the survivors have shifted the ground. They are reclaiming power and signaling that the era of waiting for institutions to tell the truth is over.
The cover-up is not a glitch in the system. It is the system. Survivors are forcing a break in the pattern, and Republicans’ old tools of delay and distraction are not enough this time.
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