Tomorrow, the House is scheduled to vote on a bill to mandate the release of the Epstein files in their entirety.
I’ll be voting YES, and I want to talk about how we got here.
We all know Donald Trump has been fighting to stop these documents from coming to light for a long time… (maybe that has something to do with him being mentioned over 1,500 times in the emails released by the House Oversight Committee last week). He’s pressured Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans to stall the process for months. When the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Trump’s DOJ ordering them to hand over these records, they refused to comply.
Now, Trump has suddenly told Republicans they should vote with Democrats to release the files — posting on social media, “I DON’T CARE!”
But here’s the thing… Trump doesn’t need this bill to pass at all. He already has the authority, TODAY, to release every single document if he actually wanted to.
So don’t let him fool you. This is not a sudden change of heart. He doesn’t care about the survivors — he cares about protecting himself. So he’s pretending to “support” the bill because he sees the writing on the wall: this vote is happening whether he likes it or not.
Let’s be clear — this isn’t some political “gotcha” against Trump. This fight is about justice for the survivors.
It’s about thousands of women and girls who were abused and trafficked, and then silenced. They deserve justice and accountability — and that’s true whether the abuser is the President of the United States or an unknown guy on the street, and it’s true whether the perpetrator is a Democrat or a Republican.
In the coming days and weeks, we’ll see the right-wing spin machine go into overdrive. Trump’s allies will go on TV and twist themselves into knots to stay “on message” for the President. Some pundits are already minimizing or rationalizing the abuse. Some — looking at you, Megyn Kelly — are actually splitting hairs about the ages of Epstein’s victims (gross).
All of that will be painful to watch. But we can’t get distracted — because at the end of the day this isn’t about politics. It’s about justice.
If you agree it’s past time to release the Epstein files — and to fight for truth and accountability for his victims, I want to hear from you. Add your name today to let me know.
—Sara
