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PRESIDENT TRUMP vented Wednesday at efforts by a small but vocal group of Republicans seeking full transparency in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as victims of the disgraced financier appeared on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to continue investigating.
The controversy has pit Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) against a handful of GOP House members who are pushing for the full, unredacted release of all government documents pertaining to the Epstein investigation.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are leading the push for a discharge petition, which would need six Republicans to join all Democrats for passage.
So far, four Republicans are officially on board: Massie and Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.). Mace left a private meeting with the victims in tears Tuesday.
Trump insists the government has released everything that can be publicly disclosed and that there’s no larger conspiracy involving associates or friends of Epstein.
“This is a Democratic hoax that never ends …thousands of pages of documents have been given,” Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office, likening it conspiracy theories around former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
“I understand we were subpoenaed to get files, and we’ve given thousands of pages of files …it’s going to keep going and really I think it’s enough,” he added.
House Republicans on Wednesday approved a measure to show support for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into Epstein. The vote was scheduled this week to offer an alternative to Massie and Khanna’s discharge petition.
On Tuesday, the panel released thousands of files totaling more than 33,000 pages of material it received from the Department of Justice in response to the Oversight subpoenas.
Johnson believes that should suffice.
In a private meeting at the Capitol, Johnson urged GOP lawmakers to not sign on to Massie’s discharge petition and to instead focus on the Oversight investigation.
“We have a very positive alternative,” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said as he left the meeting.
Democrats dismissed the new release of documents, with Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) saying that 97 percent of the documents were already made public.
SURVIVORS PUSH FOR TRANSPARENCY
A group of women victimized by Epstein gave emotional testimony at a press conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill that was arranged by Massie and Khanna to promote their discharge petition.
“As much as this bill is about shining a light on truth, it’s not just about the bill,” said Sky Roberts, whose sister, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, died by suicide earlier this year. “This is about justice. This is about survivors. This is about justice against the rich and powerful who have stolen something from these women and many children, at the time: their freedom.”
“If you vote no, your stance will be clear,” Roberts added. “You will be choosing to stand on the side of the rich and powerful, allowing money to buy your way out of the consequence.”
Some Democrats have alleged that Trump wants to end the inquiry because he might be implicated.
Massie said Tuesday he doesn’t believe the president has “done anything criminal” but suggested Trump “may be covering for some rich and powerful people” by trying to end the investigation.
During a panel on NBC, anchor Hallie Jackson asked a group of Epstein survivors if they’d ever heard of Trump doing anything inappropriate with Epstein.
“No,” they replied.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer for the victims, expounded on what he hopes to discover in the push for transparency. He said they’ve “created somewhat of a list” implicating people beyond Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Most of these victims are very scared to say any of these names because they could get sued, they’re going to get attacked, and nobody protected them the first time,” Edwards said.
“So, is there a list?,” he added. “There is a list, but just to dispel the common theme here — every one of these women was abused by Jeffery Epstein and his scheme was to personally abuse women. When they reached a certain age, he did farm a section of them out to some of his friends. That doesn’t mean all of his friends.”
SHUTDOWN LATEST
House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) is pushing for a stopgap funding bill to extend the deadline to fund the government into November, seeking to give lawmakers more time for funding talks.
Trump on Wednesday seemed to endorse that idea.
“I think the Republicans will vote for an extension,” the president said, before railing against Democrats.
“We won’t have any Democrat votes,” Trump continued. “We could give the greatest budget ever — tax cut of 50 percent, every body taken care of, perfect for women, perfect for men, perfect for minorities, perfect for everything and we wouldn’t get one vote for the Democrats. Because they’ve lost their minds, they are so deranged. They have Trump derangement syndrome.”
Democrats are blaming Trump for the funding impasse, saying the White House’s efforts to clawback funds already appropriated by Congress have spoiled negotiations.
“Anything that gives our Democrat colleagues a reason not to do the bipartisan appropriations process is not a good thing,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-Ark.) said. “If they can use that as an excuse, that causes us a problem. I do not think this is a good idea and I think it’s going to give our Democratic colleagues a reason not to work with us on an appropriations process.”
Florida officials announced Wednesday they will seek to make the state the first in the country without school vaccine mandates, with Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo comparing the requirements to slavery.
A federal judgesided with Google in a case brought by the Justice Department seeking to break up the tech giant. Amazon will have to face a class action lawsuit accusing it of imposing inflated fees on third-party sellers that have been passed along to consumers. Disney settled with the FTC over allegations it unlawfully collected children’s data.
President Trump said Wednesday he’s looking at the possibility of sending federal troops into New Orleans, saying Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) “wants us to come in and straighten out” a city that he said has become “quite tough, quite bad.”
Speaking at a press conference in the Oval Office, Trump again mulled sending National Guard troops into Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, although he acknowledged “we don’t have the support of some of these politicians.”
The president celebrated the reduction of crime in Washington, D.C., amid the federal takeover of the nation’s capital.
The Democratic mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, signed an order this week authorizing coordination between federal and local forces to extend beyond Trump’s emergency declaration, which is set to expire this month.
“We have a great thing going [in D.C.],” Trump said Wednesday.
Trump had said the prior day “we’re going in” to Chicago, though he didn’t say when.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) are warning Trump to stay out of Illinois.
“Once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next?” Pritzker said at a Tuesday press conference.
Pritzker also indicated that the Texas National Guard was preparing for deployment to Chicago.
ELSEWHERE…
Vice President Vance and second lady Usha Vance met Wednesday with the families of those impacted by last week’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
Two children were killed in the pews during a worship service on Aug. 27, while 21 others were injured.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said he intends to call a special legislative session to implement new gun reforms.
💡Perspectives:
•Chicago Tribune: Chicago’s gunmen did not get Pritzker’s memo.
• Sean Duffy: How we are making Union Station safe and beautiful again.
President Trump sarcastically trolled Chinese President Xi Jinping for hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a military parade in Beijing.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration,”Trump posted on social media. “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
Putin and Kim met for bilateral talks in Beijing on Wednesday after attending the military parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
“They were hoping I was watching and I was watching,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “My relationship with all of them is very good. We’re going to find out how good over the next week or two.”
Also on Wednesday, Putin questioned the purpose of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin offered to host a summit with Zelensky in Moscow, which is unlikely to happen there.
Trump said he planned to speak with Putin about ending the war with Ukraine “over the next few days.”
“I’m having a conversation with him very shortly and I’ll know pretty much what we’re going to be doing,” Trump said.
Trump bristled at a Polish reporter who said he’d taken “no action” against Russia, pointing to steep tariffs on India for continuing to buy Russian oil.
“[Putin] knows where I stand and whatever his decision is we’ll either be happy about it or unhappy about it and if we’re unhappy about it you’ll see things happen,” Trump said.
ELSEWHERE…
Trump’s nominee to serve on the the Federal Reserve board of governors will get a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Trump tapped Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to replace former Fed board member Adriana Kugler, who resigned last month.
Like Trump, Miran has criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates.
MEANWHILE…
Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook said in a new court filing that Trump has no authority to fire her over allegations she lied on mortgage applications because that information was available during her confirmation process.
The Trump administration has accused Cook of lying on mortgage applications by claiming two homes as her primary residence, an allegation that has been confirmed by multiple media outlets.
Cook’s lawyer Abbe Lowellargued that “the Government had prior knowledge of the alleged facial contradictions in Governor Cook’s documents well before the President invoked them as the basis for her purported removal.”
Cook is suing to remain in her position, and the Fed says it will abide by a court’s ruling on the matter.
If Cook is removed, a potential new Trump nominee would give him a majority of appointees on the board amid his feud with Powell over monetary policy.
