Today in Poliitcs, Bulletin 253. 11/18/25
… The bipartisan Epstein resolution sponsored by Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie to compel DOJ to release the entire contents of the files (except for victim info) passed the House today by a vote of 427-1 and will now go the the senate. Crazy Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) was the only one to vote no.
… There was some drama with twists and turns along the way, as the Epstein survivors held a press conference outside the Capitol and Mike Johnson and GOP House leadership held one at the same time inside. Then debate on the floor followed while Trump met with Saudi prince MBS in the Oval Office. I did my best to keep up with everything that was happening simultaneously.
… Higgins explained why he voted against it: “I have been a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning. This bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt.”
… From the dueling press conferences:
Survivor: “We are hearing the admin saying they intend to investigate various Democrats. I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. It is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it. Show some class. Show some real leadership. Show that you actually care about the people other than yourself. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment.”
Marge Greene: “I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for 6 years for. And I gave him my loyalty for free. I won my first election without his endorsement, beating 8 men in a primary, and I’ve never owed him anything. And he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition. Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is a is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves.”
Survivor: “Under Trump’s second presidency, the DOJ announced they were closing the investigation into Epstein’s coconspirators and then transferred Ghislaine Maxwell into a prison camp, where it’s well documented that she is receiving special treatment. This is a case of institutional betrayal.”
Greene: “This has been one of the most destructive things to MAGA. Watching this actually turn into a fight has ripped MAGA apart. And 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 bullshit. The real test will be, will DOJ release the files?”
Survivor: “I am traumatized. I am not stupid. You have put us through so much stress, the lockdowns, the halt of these procedures that were supposed to have happened 50 days ago.”
Mike Johnson: “I’m going to vote to move this forward. I think it could be close to unanimous vote, because everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show their maximum transparency. But they also want to note that we’re demanding that this stuff get corrected.”
Thomas Massie: “I think I think the Speaker wants to save face. He’s going to vote for a piece of legislation today that he’s disparaged for 4 months.”
Johnson: “I called Thune and I talked him through this with him and shared our deep concerns. And of course, they share those concerns as well. And so I’m very confident that when this moves forward in the process, 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.”
It turns out that did not happen. Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate will pass the bill by unanimous consent with no amendments. Apparently, Thune wasn’t interested in playing MAGA Mike’s games on this. Schumer took the floor to make the announcement with a big smile. I am a Schumer critic. I want him to step aside. But credit where credit is due - this was a nice win for him to get Thune to surrender quickly.
CNN’s Aaron Blake: “Incidentally, one way for the House to have been able to amend this legislation would have been for Johnson to put such a vote on the floor himself. The reason they needed to do a discharge petition was because Johnson wouldn’t do that.”
Q: “Speaker Johnson is calling on the Senate to make revisions to this bill because he says it’s doesn’t adequately protect survivors. Massie: That’s been a red herring all along. The survivors have always been in favor of this legislation. He’s trying to save face.”
Ro Khanna: “I don’t want the DC swamp playing any games. They should pass this in the Senate. They should not amend it - no amendments, no adding loopholes. Justice is long overdue.”
Survivor: “Let’s send it through the senate and straight to Trump’s desk for signing. I’d like to be there that day that he signs. I’m sure all of us would like to be there.”
Johnson: “There are national security concerns. It is incredibly dangerous to demand that officials or employees of the DOJ declassify materials that originated in other agencies and intelligence agencies.”
Massie: “We fought the president, the AG, the FBI director, the Speaker of the House, and the VP to get this win.”
Johnson: “The discharge petition could create new victims, because it requires the DOJ to release info even in cases where the DOJ or the FBI has already reviewed it and determined it is not credible. Doing this could ruin the reputations of completely innocent people, such as those who have made may have just have known Epstein, but knew nothing of his crimes.”
Greene: “This was a fight that we should have never had to wage. It should have been been the easiest thing for every member of Congress, the easiest thing for the Speaker of the House, the easiest thing for the president, to release all the information. These women shouldn’t have had to face that. And we—the 4 Republican members of the House, we should have never faced intimidation and threats for us to get this vote to come to the floor. Never forget there were only 4.”
… From the floor debate and comments from people on the various issues:
Massie: “Do not let the Senate muck this bill up. And if you are a party to that in the Senate, you’re part of the coverup we’re trying to expose. I’m sorry if one of your billionaire donors is going to get embarrassed, but some of them need to go to prison.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY): “Today, Republicans will do what the Democrats COULD have but REFUSED to do for 4 years…vote to release the Epstein files.”
… I will note that there were court orders in place throughout the Biden presidency since Maxwell was being prosecuted then had appeals pending.
Massie: “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. We have a lot of good men doing nothing on the other side of the aisle. Until we did something - 3 brave women, myself and the Democrat caucus. And then what did they do? They opposed us every step of the way.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR): “Here are a few things to remember as Trump absurdly tries to convince everyone he supports releasing the DOJ Epstein files. Regardless of what Trump says in the moment, the man who ordered hundreds of federal agents to scrub for his name in the Epstein files cannot be trusted to do the right thing with the Epstein files. I don’t even fully trust this corrupt DOJ handling the documents.”
“The Trump admin has another set of Epstein files in addition to those at the DOJ. The Treasury Dept has thousands of Epstein bank records that are key to following the money through his trafficking network. No Epstein investigation is complete without them. What would those records help reveal? Where Epstein got his money. How he acquired and controlled his victims. Who he trafficked them to. What individuals and banks enabled the trafficking. Who else had control of Epstein’s accounts, and what crimes they committed.”
“Secretary Bessent has repeatedly blocked the release of these Epstein bank records and bizarrely claimed the Treasury Dept has no role investigating them. He’s as complicit in the coverup as Bondi and Patel are. Regardless of what happens in the coming weeks, I’m going to continue demanding transparency from the Treasury Dept on the Epstein files in its possession. They’re an essential part of this case.”
CNN warned that this is not over, because Pam Bondi can still pull some shenanigans: “The Epstein files legislation clearly says, quote, ‘The Attorney General may withhold or redact any material that would jeopardize an active investigation or national security.’”
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) to NOTUS: “I was planning to vote for the release for a while now. People are making a false assumption that because members didn’t sign the discharge they were going to vote ‘no.’ We just did not agree with the procedure.”
… Riiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhhht. The procedure.
Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) went with a ‘dog ate my homework’ story: “Nobody approached me about signing on to the discharge petition. My attitude was: this thing came up, I was going to vote for it, I’ve said that for the last several months.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): “Releasing the Epstein files—as the Senate should do right after the House—must mean ALL the files, not a fraction selected by DOJ. Trump can’t conceal and shield himself simply by ordering a rigged politically driven DOJ investigation. Congress must assure full disclosure.”
… From Trump’s comments last night to the press:
Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey - “What did Jeffrey Epstein mean in his emails when he said you ‘knew about the girls?’ Trump: I know nothing about that. They would’ve announced that a long time ago. (Lucey attempts a follow-up) Trump: “Quiet! Quiet, piggy!”
Daily Beast: “Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who won the title aged 19 while Trump co-owned the organization, has also described how he would aggressively bark at her, sometimes calling her ‘Miss Piggy.’ “He was overwhelming, I was so scared of him. He’d yell at me all the time. He’d tell me, ‘You look ugly,’ or ‘You look fat,’ Sometimes he’d say, ‘Hello, Miss Piggy.’”
… Trump’s press conference with MBS:
ABC reporter Mary Bruce: “Is it appropriate for your family to do business with Saudi Arabia while you’re president? To the crown prince, US intelligence concluded you orchestrated the murder of a journalist… Trump: Who are you with? Bruce: ABC News. Trump: ABC Fake news. I have nothing to do with the family business. You mentioned somebody extremely controversial (Khashoggi)—a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman. Whether you did or didn’t like him, things happen but he knew nothing about it. You don’t have to embarrass our guest.”
… Things happen.
Bruce then attempted to ask Trump about Epstein: “It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think the license should be taken away from ABC. We have a great FCC commissioner, a chairman who should look at that. You’re a terrible person and terrible reporter. I have nothing to do with Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.”
… Trump always reserves his nastiest and most personal name-calling attacks for female reporters. This time it was Mary Bruce and Catherine Lucey. Both very courageous and putting many of the boys in the press corps to shame with their tough questions.
Trump: “I’m very proud of the job he’s (MBS) done. What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights.”
Trump interrupts MBS when he says the Saudis have had a great relationship with every US president: “But does Trump blow em all away? Trump doesn’t give a fist pump. I grab that hand. (Trump reaches over and shakes MBS’s hand vigorously) I don’t care where that hand has been.”
… Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) on Trump selling F-35s to Saudi Arabia over Pentagon objections: “I believe the president is bringing different countries into the coalition that would be more aligned with Western values and with respect for national security. I trust his team.”
… Fox was the only major news network that did not cover the Epstein victims’ press conference.
… From an Aug 1 Bloomberg article: “While reviewing the Epstein files, FBI personnel identified numerous references to Trump in the documents. Dozens of other high-profile public figures also appeared. In preparation for potential public release, the documents then went to a unit of FOIA officers who applied redactions in accordance with the 9 exemptions. The people familiar with the matter said that Trump’s name, along with other high-profile individuals, was blacked out because he was a private citizen when the federal investigation of Epstein was launched in 2006.”
… “In particular, the reviewers applied two FOIA exemptions to justify their redactions. The first, Exemption 6, protects individuals against ‘a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.’ The Supreme Court has said the exemption protects ‘individuals from the injury and embarrassment’ that would result from the disclosure of personal information in possession of the govt.”
… “Here’s the bottom line: The FBI’s behind-the-scenes decision-making suggests that the chances of aliens resurrecting JFK are greater than Trump’s name ever being unredacted from the Epstein files. Of course, Trump could agree to let his name out or sign a privacy waiver. Or, when he—and everybody else named in the files—eventually dies, most of their privacy rights will disappear.”
Reminder that there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered on Wednesdays where I do a deep dive into the top stories of the week, then Ask the Editor where I pick 5 of your questions to answer. If you have a question or would simply like me to talk more about a subject, leave it in the replies to this Bulletin.
If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… The Atlantic: “In the morning after he won a second term as president, Trump placed an unexpected call to his top fundraiser, Meredith O’Rourke. ‘I want you to keep going,’ he told her. Within weeks, that message had gone out to his Republican donors, as well as to Fortune 500 companies and billionaire investors who typically