MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski warned congressional Republicans they were staking their political futures against a group of sex abuse survivors who have "nothing to lose."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) pledged to help Jeffrey Epstein's survivors reveal the names of others involved in his sex trafficking ring if the House did not sign on to a discharge petition forcing the release of the Epstein files, and the "Morning Joe" host said that was an another escalation of the lingering scandal.
"This petition right now has four Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace," Brzezinski said, "and I think the most dangerous thing for Republicans on this is these survivors, these women who who have been abused repeatedly over the course of years and then invalidated about that abuse, that's akin to having nothing left to lose, and that's dangerous."
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) had nearly a dozen Republicans willing to sign the discharge petition before House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sent lawmakers home early for recess, but a White House pressure campaign had whittled that number down to two fewer than he needs to force a vote on his bill compelling the files' release by the Department of Justice.
"These Republicans have a lot coming their way if they think they're going to be quiet," Brzezinski said. "[The survivors are] done. You can hear it, you can see it, and it's something that perhaps some Republicans who are standing in the way of this may want to consider."
The survivors spoke to reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where they revealed their plans to compile their own list of Epstein's co-conspirators, but they also expressed their fear of ruinous lawsuits and violent threats – but Greene said she would shield herself behind a constitutional immunity rule to expose the alleged sex offenders.
"Those names are going to come come out one way or another," Brzezinski said.