U.S. Speaker of the Home Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters on the U.S. Capitol on July 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Congressional Lawmakers have returned to work on Capitol Hill after the weekend.
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The Home of Representatives will start its August recess early to keep away from Republicans being compelled to vote on Democratic-backed motions associated to the Jeffrey Epstein information.
“There isn’t any objective for Congress to push an administration to do one thing that they are already doing,” Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., informed reporters on Tuesday.
“And so that is for political video games,” Johnson mentioned about lawmakers’ efforts to power votes on releasing Division of Justice investigative information concerning the infamous intercourse offender Epstein, and his convicted procurer Ghislaine Maxwell.
Republicans, who management the Home majority, cancelled votes anticipated to happen on Thursday. The Home will start its August recess on Wednesday afternoon, leaving on the desk a collection of deliberate legislative votes that have been unrelated to Epstein.
“We are able to each name for full transparency and in addition shield victims,” Johnson mentioned.
“And if you happen to run roughshod otherwise you do it too rapidly, that is not what occurs,” he mentioned. “However I am satisfied that the DOJ goes to do their job, the administration goes to do their job, and we’ll do our job. ”
The Trump administration, going through a powerful backlash over the Division of Justice’s determination to renege on a promise to launch the Epstein and Maxwell case information, has taken a number of steps to mitigate that criticism in latest days.
Lawyer Common Pam Bondi had DOJ legal professionals final week ask federal judges to unseal the transcripts of grand jury proceedings associated to the legal circumstances in opposition to Epstein and Maxwell.
On Tuesday, Deputy Lawyer Common Todd Blanche mentioned he was talking with Maxwell’s protection lawyer to see if Maxwell “can be keen to talk with prosecutors” to see if she “has details about anybody who has dedicated crimes in opposition to victims.”
Blanche beforehand served as a legal protection lawyer for Trump when the president was indicted in 4 separate circumstances after ending his first White Home time period in January 2017.
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